When a Dying Humanity Meets a Pink of Fifty Shades
by AkemiTheSunbro
Summary: [Collaboration with user Erebus Kioku] Madoka becomes bored of the world Homura had created for her, so she decides they should revisit a past timeline. What will happen when one Madoka who's been given everything to the point of being spoiled rotten meets another whose had everything ripped away from her and destroyed?
1. Night of Boredom

_**So, this is collaboration effort with Erebus Kioku, featuring his/her "50 Shades of Pink" story and my very own "When Humanity Dies" fiction in a crossover of sorts. Hopefully, it doesn't suck.**_

 _ **I should probably mention, as Erebus states in his/her original "50 Shades" story, that neither of us condone some of the types of relationships that will be shown here. Personally, I disapprove of most of them seen here, but hey. Solid ideas have value to me.**_

" _ **Why are you writing it, then? That sounds hypocritical."**_

 _ **Because… I mean… Shut up, it's our story. We'll do as we please.**_

 _ **Hope you all enjoy it!**_

* * *

Walking through Mitakihara Central Park, Madoka took a deep breath of the fresh afternoon air and smiled. Staring into the cloudless cyan sky, she chuckled at how much had changed since that whole "Rebellion Incident". While that whole sordid affair was definitely a nuisance, she did have to be thankful for a things that it caused, such as having all her friends resurrected, her Goddess responsibilities diminished to a more manageable level, and allowing her to live normally for a little while longer.

"All thanks to my demon of a girlfriend, Homura Akemi," she mused, "Who knew she'd be such a crybaby, though?"

She smiled gently. Homura really was a dear soul to her. The life of the girl who formed a new reality just for her really was precious indeed. Surely, a life that travelled through time countless times all for her was something beyond special, even if she didn't bother to remember many of those timelines anyway. Her smile twisted cruelly. She absolutely reveled in the enjoyment of ruling that life completely.

"In fact," brushing off her white skirt and pink-plaid flannel shirt, she chuckled as she slung her backpack over her shoulder, "I might as well stop by her house on my way home. Let's see what I can wring out of her today. She did miss St. Patrick's Day after all, and she KNOWS how much I LOVE St. Patrick's Day!"

With that thought lingering in her mind's eye, she left the park and began her journey to her lover's home. As she walked, various ideas of what she should coerce Homura to do for her surfaced and swirled in her head. However, with her thoughts progressing as she walked, her smile slowly fell to a scowl as one nagging statement writhed throughout each idea:

"...This world is dull," she moaned, then crossed her arms and huffed, "I mean, nothing's ACTUALLY happened since the whole 'Manatee Incident', and then, before that, it was just the 'Rebellion' Fiasco!" She lifted an open hand and reached into sky-which began to fill with grey clouds-and stated apathetically, "It's all just… just… boring!"

Then, her smile appeared once again, "Maybe we could visit one of those timelines I forgot about. We're technically both concepts who exist outside of the mortal coil that is time and space, so who says we can't? I'm pretty sure she still has command over time, too," She shrugged, "Although... I did remember dying in most of them, but I'm sure we could work around that little detail," she smirked at her plan, "Yeah, that's what we'll do. It'll be fun!"

Enjoying the concept of her idea, she hadn't realized how soon she had arrived at Homura home until she stood at the bottom of her girlfriend's stairwell. Without delay, Madoka quickly hopped up the stairs and rhythmically rapped the door with her knuckles.

She then heard the demon growling from the inside, "Son of a… I swear if it's that MONGREL, Miki Sayaka…" The pinkette then overheard a loud thump, followed by a bouncing sound and Homura cursing, "PIECE OF… BLOODY CHAIR…!"

Madoka chuckled at her friend's pain, knowing she had once again kicked into the ever-stationery chair in her foyer.

Homura quickly opened the door, a scowl plastered on her lips. That scowl melted immediately when she discovered who stood at the door. She gasped, "...M-Madoka!"

Without even acknowledging her greeting, Madoka stepped into the home and commented, "You really should stop kicking into that chair, Homura-chan. You'll break a toe."

The raven-haired girl stuttered and grabbed the upper-arm of her white, long-sleeved shirt, face flushing with embarrassment, "W-Well, I-I… Um…

Madoka then frowned as she stared at the plain, white room, furnished only by small couches in the shape of a clock and a television set, "You should also get better furniture. It's too plain for me."

The demon muttered as she kept her gaze to the ground, "Well, you see… I'm still looking, and I'm having troubles deciding on whether is should be leather or fabric, or how much I wish to spend and-"

"Leather," Madoka interrupted, still scowling at the interior, "I like leather. And none of that cheap junk."

Homura gasped, "O-Oh, okay…"

"Anywho, not what I came here for," Madoka turned, crossed her arms around her back and smiled innocently. Batting her eyelashes, she requested, "You know, you missed St. Patrick's day."

Homura's eyes grew wide in fear as breathed in deeply and pursed her lips.

The pinkette continued, "As such, I want you to do something for me."

"A-Anything," the girl quickly nodded.

"I want to go back a revisit one of our forgotten timelines."

"W-What?!" The demon gasped, then shook her head and denied with a dismissive wave of her hand, "Impossible. I may control time and space, but I won't allow it."

With click of her tongue, the pinkette glowered and stepped toward her menacingly, "Are you denying me of what I want? Because I'm sure you remember what happened the last time you denied my request."

Homura gulped. She still had troubles acquiring a taste for anything since the last time, and her throat was _still_ numb. So much hot sauce…

She stuttered, subtly trying to deter the idea, "W-While it's true that I do not recall a few of my timelines, one fact is that I always remember is that you died at the end of each... Until that last one that is…"

Madoka shrugged, "Yeah, I just kinda figured we'd come back before all that happened."

"But…" she tried to protest, only to receive an unrelenting glare from the pinkette, "I… I suppose that's not too horrible of an idea…" the demon begrudgingly gave in as she idly tapped her single black, misshapen earing. Her shoulders slumped as she sighed in defeat, "...I'll go make a list of all the timelines that I don't remember well."

As Homura walked away to find paper and a pencil, Madoka clapped her hands together and smiled, "Good! I'm glad we got that worked out."

The two walked over to the nearest table and the raven-haired girl started scrawling out timeline numbers in a vertical column. After a few minutes of writing, she motioned for the pinkette to look, "Here."

Looking over the list, Madoka scowled the illiterate scribbles on the paper, "Your handwriting's trash, Homura-chan," she clicked her tongue and sighed, "That's gonna be a ten-point deductible…"

The pinkette smirked slightly as she noticed the demon grimace. Then, she pointed randomly to the middle of the list and stated confidently, "This one."

Homura leaned in to see what one she had chosen and commented, "Timeline 83, then?"

Madoka shrugged, "It's as good as any, I suppose," she furrowed her brow and mumbled, "Can't exactly read any of it, regardless…"

"Okay," the demon nodded. Then, a lustful grin stretched across her face. She stepped behind the pinkette and wrapped her arms around her waist.

Madoka scowled, "I didn't give you permission to touch me like that."

Homura frowned and stuttered plaintively, "B-But you said you wished to time-travel…"

"...Fine," The pinkette huffed, "But you'll have to be punished later."

"B-But…" The demon grimaced and moaned, "Yes, Mistress…"

Before starting her magic, she began cackling maniacally, "...hahahahAHAHAHAHAHAH! HAHAHAHAHAHAA-"

"Don't do that," Madoka commanded.

Homura immediately stopped and gulped, "Yes, ma'am," then focused her magic, and they exploded in a burst of blinding white light.

* * *

As Homura's vision returned, she doubled-over as a wave of nausea and vertigo smacked her like Madoka would've, only slightly less painful. She moaned, "I remember that feeling now… I've always hated it…"

Shaking away her time-traveling sickness, she realized that she stood in the backyard of a suburban home, under a treehouse specifically. She scowled as she noticed the overgrown grass, "Lazy mongrels… How dare they keep the world I created for them so unkempt?!"

Then, another realization struck her as she watched the sun starting to fade beyond the horizon. She stood _alone_ in the suburban backyard. She gasped and called anxiously, "Madoka? Madoka?!" She moaned as she rubbed her temples, tears beginning to form in her eyes, "My punishment is going to be so severe…"

"Homura!" The pinkette in question called as she dashed out from the back door of the home.

"Madoka!" The demon exclaimed, quickly wiping away the oncoming tears before her friend could see them.

"Homura!" Madoka slowed as she approached, breathing a sigh of relief, "I'm so glad you're okay! I was really worried when we got separated…"

Homura furrowed her brow, slightly shocked, "You were… worried?"

 _Oh Madoka, you love me so much no matter how strictly you train me!_ she simpered to herself.

Furrowing her own brow, the pinkette nodded, "Of course," glancing around anxiously, she nodded, "Quick, in the treehouse. It's not safe to rest here."

The demon's spine tensed up, "Yes, ma'am."

She dashed to the ladder leading up to the fort and waited at the base, following her Mistress's orders that she was never allowed to go first anywhere. As she waited, she noticed that Madoka left hand was gone, replaced by a leather-metal cast mechanism. She gasped, "Madoka, what happened to your hand?!"

Standing and staring in mild shock, the pinkette questioned, "...Ma'am? What's gotten into you, Homura?" she shook her head and answered her question, holding up a bleeding right hand, "I sliced it while climbing up the chain fence as we were running from the Walkers… We got separated immediately after that, so I didn't get to tell you..."

Homura wanted to correct her and ask about her left hand, but she recalled what the consequences were for back talking. Thus, she refrained. Her thighs were still sore from the time Madoka had stretched her leg almost 180 degrees above her head in a ballet position for nearly an hour, arms held artistically outward, as was natural for the pose. She was just thankful that she hadn't popped a hamstring at the time.

Instead, she asked, "A-Are you okay?"

Stepping towards the tree, Madoka gazed at her grimy, bleeding hand and moaned slightly, "Not really, it hurts quite a bit…" she grimaced as she placed her the hand on the first rung of the ladder, "But it can't be helped. After we rest for a bit, I'll have it treated when we get back to the group."

 _Group?_ Homura furrowed her brow in confusion, _She had time to meet up with Tomoe Mami, Sakura Kyoko and the mongrel before I even got here?_ She chuckled, _Who am I kidding? I suppose it's only natural. My wonderful mistress is so powerful, there's scarcely anything in this universe beyond her abilities! That's just how my dear Madoka is!_

As Madoka slowly ascended the ladder, the demon caught a glimpse under her skirt and grinned lewdly. Unfortunately for her, hearing her girlfriend painfully grimace after each monotonous step up the ladder did not allow her any enjoyment of the sight. With a sigh, she charged her magic and leaped, grabbing the pinkette in her arms-who gasped in shock-and landed in the treehouse, ducking so as to not hit the ceiling of the fort most certainly built for a small child.

After being gently set on her feet, Madoka crossed her wounded hand across her stomach, slowly staggering and sitting down in the nearest corner. She frowned and chastised gently, "You shouldn't have wasted magic doing that. I was climbing just fine."

Homura grimaced as she sat across from her, waiting for the exclamation of some new form of punishment. But it never came.

Instead, a small smile appeared on Madoka's face as she supported her hand with her cast, "...I appreciate it though," she muttered as she stared forlornly into her lap, "We've all been through enough pain. There's no sense in forcing anymore on myself, I guess…"

 _What?_ the demon blinked, _She's… not mad?_

Breathing a sigh of relief, Homura recoiled; Madoka smelled absolutely putrid, like she hadn't bathed in in weeks. Then, she took in the smell with another deep breath and smiled pervertedly. Any scent Madoka produced was a sweet aroma to her senses.

However, as she examined the pinkette further-for more or less unwholesome purposes-she discovered a holster equipped with a Colt Python Revolver attached to her right thigh. She flinched as she thought about what manner of punishments the pinkette might carry out with a weapon such as that.

Then, something worse caught her attention. She noticed Madoka's pink, flannel shirt was riddled with holes and bloodstains right in the chest, revealing small patches of her undergarments. Admittedly, she might even had been aroused slightly, had the undergarments not also been crimson with gore.

Homura bit her lip. She wanted to ask, but also knew the consequences for speaking out of line. She decided to chance it, "M-Madoka, w-what happened to your chest?"

"Hmm?" The pinkette furrowed her brow, dropping her gaze to her torso. Seeing the ragged shirt, her eyes softened, "Oh, this. I forgot, you were out hunting at the campsite when it happened. I just assumed Dad had told you."

 _Huh?_ Homura's eyes narrowed in confusion once again, _What's Mr. Kaname doing here? He's never around when the group's together…_

Her thought process was cut short as the pinkette continued, donning a grim expression, "As I said, we were at the campsite in the woods, when a friend of Tomoya's stumbled on the clearing where we had set up,"

 _...Who's Tomoya?_ Homura sighed as she rubbed her temples, _How long has she been here? More so, I remember nothing of this timeline... Of course, that's what Madoka wanted after all… I suppose I should just sit and listen._

"...And then, two men that Izumi was traveling with appeared from the forest. One of them seems to be a nice man so far, but the other one…" She gulped and hesitated, "I don't think I've seen so much hatred and malice in someone's eyes before…" she mumbled without taking her eyes off of her lap, "Then, he pulled a gun on us and shot me repeatedly…"

Homura gasped in burning ire, "WHAT?! WHERE IS HE?! I'll tear apart any mongrel who tries to hurt you!" She quickly shot to her feet, yet forgetting that the ceiling was so low, causing her to bash her skull against the roof. She grimaced and started rubbing the painful knot forming on her head, "Ow…"

Madoka couldn't help but giggle slightly, but seeing her friend rubbing her cranium rather pathetically, she quickly shook her head, "I-I'm sorry, that was rude of me…"

... _W-What?_ the demon stood slack-jawed and dumbfounded, _She's… apologizing?_

However, the pinkette didn't notice Homura's dumb expression as shadows covered her eyes. She continued in a low voice, "...I killed him."

"...Oh," Homura blinked as she commented in a state of shock. Madoka had done some horrible things to her in their time together, but…

The pinkette continued without making eye contact, "He threatened the group and my Dad. I won't stand for anyone threatening my family… He didn't realize I was a Magical Girl and his bullets weren't doing anything, so I shot him in the head," she paused, then glared viciously at the demon, "...If anyone gets in the way of me and my family, they're going to _lose_ ," a small smile cracked her serious expression as she stated calmly, "We've talked about this; that goes for you too, Homura."

With eyes wide, back pressed against the wall and heart racing fearfully, the raven-haired girl stuttered as she sat down again, never taking her eyes off of the pinkette, "O-O-Oh… A-Alright…"

Madoka tilted her head, "What happened to your braids and glasses? I thought they were cute…"

Homura gasped slightly, _She never told me that she liked my braids, and I haven't worn them in such a long time…_ she grimaced, _And now she expects an answer... I'll have to come up with something…_

She stuttered, trying not to make eye contact, "W-Well, w-when we were s-seperated, and… you know, we were r-running, of course… And… Um…"

"I think I understand…" Madoka's gaze fell to her lap as she interrupted, "They caught up and pulled out your braids, and you, trying to break free, lost your glasses in the process..."

 _A SCAPEGOAT!_ "...Y-Yes, that's exactly what happened!"

Madoka sighed disappointedly, "That's a shame…" she added, throwing on a smile, "I'm just glad that you're okay."

"I… I suppose so…" the demon muttered, followed by a long silence between the two.

Before too long, low moans could be heard from the world below.

The demon furrowed her brow, _What on earth could be making those horrific sounds?_ she frowned, the smell of decomposition now ruining her pleasure of Madoka's body odor, _I don't like it. They should be silenced._

She gazed over at Madoka and took a breath to ask about what was making those ungodly moans, but the pinkette spoke up first as if reading her mind, staring anxiously out into the night that had swallowed up the sun's last rays, "Walkers."

"...Walkers?" Homura asked, completely lost.

"They must have smelled the blood from my hand…" The pinkette grimaced as she thought about the sanguine trail she must have left, "We don't have much time…" she slowly stood to her feet, turned to the demon and asked, "Do you still have the Walkie-Talkie?"

 _Wa...Walkie… Talkie?_ the demon fearfully gasped, _S-She didn't tell me to bring a Walkie-Talkie… What I do?! She expects me to have it, but if I tell her that I didn't bring it…_

Thinking quickly, the raven-haired girl averted her gaze to the ground, praying Madoka wouldn't call her on her impending bluff, "I… Um… I lost it…"

The pinkette's shoulders slumped as she gave another disappointed sigh.

Homura flinched, awaiting another onslaught of curses and other verbal abuse.

Instead, Madoka simply stated as she gazed forlornly out the entrance at the shambling shadows below, "I suppose it can't be helped," summoning a rose woven to look like a crossbow, she motioned for Homura to exit, "C'mon, we have to get out of here before it gets too bad on the ground."

"O-Okay," the demon quickly nodded and stood up. While she was slightly more afraid of her then normal, she smiled in adoration of seeing her girlfriend looking so heroic yet so ragged, a broken figure ready to face unknown danger without fear. Homura smiled twistedly. And she was all hers.

* * *

Madoka reeled with vertigo and nausea. She covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to vomit. After the sickness subsided, she commented, "So, THAT'S what time-travel feels like…" shaking away the whiteness in her eyes, she mumbled, "Girl's a wimp, but if she did THAT over a hundred times, I have to admit she's got my respect there," she paused, "...but ONLY there."

Glancing around, she discovered that she stood in the middle of a suburban street in the middle of the night. Moreover, her demon was nowhere to be seen. She placed her hands on her hips and started tapping her foot irritably, growling through clenched teeth, "...Why can't that girl do anything right?"

She complained, "Stupid demon, landing us right in the middle of the night! I wanted to go to the mall and get a souvenir from this timeline, and maybe even get a bite to eat, but NO! She just had to screw up AGAIN." She sighed and started walking down the street, "I guess I'll have to go look for her… I swear, when I find her, I'm going to punish her SO hard…"

Rubbing her chin as she walked, she thought what she could do to the demon, "This is the perfect opportunity to introduce her to the E.T. The Extraterrestrial 82' video game I 'bought' for her," she smirked, "A few hours of playing that garbage ought to make her behave herself. Yeah, I'll do that," then, she scowled, "Still have to find her though. That is still a problem."

Then, she saw figure in the darkness, but couldn't make out the details. She stopped walking and called, figuring that she and Homura would be the only ones out this late, "Homura-chan?" seeing the figure quickly turn towards her, she sighed in minor relief, "That was easier then I thought. Homura-chan! Come here!"

The figure began approaching, but seemed to be walking with a limp. The pinkette rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, tapping her fingers to her upper-arm irritably, "Can you walk any slower? I prefer not to waste my first night here waiting for you to shamble your sorry butt over to me."

As the figure drew closer, she thought she heard very distinct moaning. Realizing that Homura most likely arrived first and decided to play a little 'zombie' prank on her, Madoka huffed, "Very funny, Homura-chan, but it's time to cut it out. You know I don't like pranks."

But the figure didn't stop advancing, it's moans growing louder, now accompanied by wheezing, hissing and the smell of rotting flesh. This just made Madoka more irate. She glowered and growled, "If you don't knock this off, we're gonna have to go to a patent office, because I'm about to invent a WHOLE NEW kind of pain for you, Homura!"

This didn't phase the figure's advance. She noticed the figure reach for her as it limped closer. She rolled her eyes, "Yes, Homura-chan, I'm right here. Now, let's talk about how you won't be walking properly for-"

Her words were interrupted by another shadow flying from out of nowhere and tackling the first, the distinct sound of a blade piercing flesh, then silence. With the moans quieted, the second figure stood up, turned to the pinkette and asked with Homura's voice, "Madoka? Is that you?"

 _Well, that was… Odd…_ Madoka thought inquisitively. Shaking her head, she crossed her arms and replied irritably, "There you are, Homura-chan."

"Madoka! I'm glad you're alright," Homura stated with relief in her voice as her figure walked closer to the pinkette, "When we hopped the fence and got separated, I was quite worried."

 _As you should be,_ she inwardly growled. She paused, _...Hopped the fence? Is that some sort of Time Traveling term?_

After a long round of silence, the time-traveler mused, "Hmm. Honorifics. An endearing sentiment, to be sure," she then added apathetically, "Shame that anyone who would care about them is dead."

Madoka frowned and crossed her arms again, unwilling to show the confusion that she felt, _She's not making any sense. She KNOWS how much I HATE it when she doesn't make sense._

Then, she noticed Homura wearing her glasses due the moonlight gently glinting off of them. She tilted her head, furrowed her brow and asked, "When did you start wearing glasses again? I don't recall telling you to."

There was a pause, then followed by Homura's slightly confused reply, "...You were the one who suggested it, though. You said, and I quote, "No one ever suspects the Moeblob," or something along those lines,"

"Uh-huh," Madoka scowled and rubbed her chin, _That does sound like something I'd say, and I do forget unimportant details easily enough from time to time… You get a pass this time, Homura-chan. But ONLY this time._

The raven-haired girl sighed as she turned around, "However, with all that's happened lately, I can't say I blame you for forgetting something as insignificant as that. It's just a different way to survive, after all," she started walking down the street in the direction she faced, "Come, we must get back to the group quickly."

 _Group? So, she found Mami-san, Kyoko-chan, and Sayaka-chan before I even got here?_ She shrugged, _I guess she's not useless after all._

Then, Madoka realized Homura was breaking the rule about never being anywhere first. She clenched her fists and they started shaking, her anger beginning to fester, _Homura is disregarding everything I taught her since we became a couple. Is she already forgetting her place? Mongrel. I picked her off the streets, gave her tastes of_ _ **MY**_ _power and this is how she repays me? I suppose I should reinstate what she should already know. In fact…_

"Homura-chan, kneel," she commanded as if she were speaking to a dog.

Homura gasped and shot to the ground. The pinkette smirked and sauntered over to the girl's figure sitting on her knees. With a smug expression that no one could actually see under the lack of light, Madoka began her spiel to assert her will, "Good. Now, let's talk about-"

She squealed slightly as Homura grabbed her right hand and yanked her to the ground next to her. The latter asked as she glanced around worriedly, "What is it? Are we being targeted? Is something watching us?"

The pinkette did not answer, but trembled in overwhelming ire. She growled furiously through clenched teeth as she stood to her feet, "...How DARE you handle me like that, you worthless, ungrateful wench! Just for that, you won't be eating for two months!"

"Madoka?!" Homura exclaimed in confusion as she stood up herself. Summoning a purple light in her hand, she dimly illuminated the two and asked, "What in the world's gotten-"

Then, she froze mid sentence. With a combat knife still in her hand, a vicious scowl appeared under her glasses as she immediately pressed her blade to the pinkette's throat. She growled hotly, "Who are you and what have you done with Madoka?!"

Unphased, Madoka's glare was icy enough to combat Homura's burning one, threatening through gritted teeth, "...Homura-chan. I'll be the bigger person in this, regardless of how much I want to throttle your throat between my fingers. As such, I will give you one chance and one chance only to _BACK OFF BEFORE I SKIN YOU ALIVE AND MAKE YOU WEAR IT BACKWARDS. AGAIN."_

Ferociously grabbing the hair on top of Madoka's head, Homura hissed, pushing her knife further into the pinkette's neck, "Silence, Witch! The threats of an imposter mean nothing to me. Now," the time-traveler twisted her blade just enough to draw blood. Clenching her own teeth, she growled darkly, "you'll tell me where she is right this moment, or _I'll bleed you where you stand._ "

Madoka wanted to be angry. She wanted to punish Homura for the incessant defiance she was currently displaying. And yet, a feeling of exhilaration washed over her, one that she hadn't felt in a long time. She licked her lips lustfully; she wanted to dominate her all over again. But then, she was hit by something Homura had said:

"...Imposter?" Madoka raised her eyebrows, slightly intrigued, yet also a still irritated at the chilled blade jabbing her trachea and the minor pain coursing through her scalp. Then, she noticed the light the other girl held was a Soul Gem, and not the Crown Jewel that belonged to her demon. The realization struck her and she exclaimed, "OOHH! I get it! You're the current timeline's Homura-chan!"

"...W-What? You… You know about the multiple timelines?" The raven-haired Magical Girl gasped in shock, easing the pressure on her blade slightly. Her glare resumed and she pushed her knife into the pinkette's throat even more forcefully than before, "What anomaly is this? It's impossible! Even if I were to bring someone with me, in theory, their conscience would merely replace the one in the next timeline," She demanded in a low voice and tightened the grip on her blade, "Explain yourself."

Despite her neck's now-profuse bleeding, Madoka remained calm and even chuckled, "It's not that difficult, really. Let's just say, something that I can't be bothered to explain happens down the road where my Homura and I get INCREDIBLY more powerful. With yours-and by that I mean 'her'-power over time and space, it was really just a matter of which time to go to. Given that, can't exactly say where your Madoka is. I just got here."

"...Is that so?" Homura paused. Then, with a swift spin and a lurch, the raven-haired girl grabbed the pinkette's left wrist and twisted it behind her back, pressing a handgun to her spine, "While I cannot accept all of your story as true, I firmly believe that there is a bit of truth within every lie. Because of this, I won't leave you out here to the Walkers; you're coming with me."

 _OOoohh!~ This one's feisty! Not at all like MY pathetic crybaby of a girlfriend,_ Madoka mused as the weapon to her back forced her to walk. She smirked, _Completely breaking HER will be fun!_

Then, she scowled at the pain now coursing through her shoulder. She didn't like being handled this way. She ordered, "Let me go."

"I won't allow that," came the Magical Girl's response.

"I said," the pinkette clenched her teeth, " _Let me go."_

"And I said I refuse to allow that," Homura apathetically replied.

Madoka gaped in shock for a moment, completely unused to not getting her own way when it came to Homura. She felt a surprising rush of exhilaration, _It's going to be so much fun training this one,_ she thought _, Time to break out the metaphorical stick._

A gleeful grin appeared on the pinkette's face as she threatened, "If you don't release me, I will strip you down to your underwear and cover you in _surströmm-"_

"Enough," Homura interrupted apathetically, "As I said, your petty threats mean nothing to me," Homura returned the threat, a tinge of irritation laced in her voice, "So be quiet, or I'll silence you myself and allow the Walkers to strip the flesh from your bones."

 _Hmm!_ pinkette grinned, _This one's REALLY feisty!_

Madoka then pouted, wanting to retort, but realized it was fruitless. She was starting from square one all over again, and methodically decided to wait until there wasn't a lethal weapon shoved into her spine. Rebreaking the Magical Girl would be so much simpler when she knew that she held the definitive upper hand.

Instead, she shook her head and genuinely asked, "What about your Madoka? You said you got separated, right?"

Homura remained silent for a moment. She sighed, "...If what you say is true and you are indeed another Madoka, then I can only pray she followed through with our plans for scenarios like this and that she's back safely with the group."

The girls fell silent again as they walked. Then, a small buckler shield appeared on Homura's gun wielding hand in a blaze of blue indigo flames. Reaching in with her free hand, she pulled out a small Walkie Talkie. She pressed the small transmitter button on the side and spoke into it, "Mr. Kaname, this is Homura Akemi, do you read me?"

"Dad's here too?" Madoka chuckled with amusement.

"Silence," Homura commanded. Worry began to build within her stomach when static was the radio's only response. She spoke again anxiously, "Mr. Kaname, are you there? I repeat: This is Homura Akemi. Please respond!"

"You seem worried," the pinkette jeered, "What's wrong? A Witch more powerful than Walpurgisnacht coming around here soon?"

"I told you to remain quiet," the Magical Girl hissed.

"Ooohh!" Madoka whistled, "Someone's salty."

She rolled her eyes and frowned, _And I hate salty. Looks like that's the first kink I'm gonna have to work out of her._

"... _Homura?_ " A worried male voice came through the Walkie Talkie, " _Where are you? Is everything alright?_ "

Homura quickly replied, now slightly less anxious, "I am fine, but I got separated from Madoka. Is she with you all?"

Mr. Kaname paused for another long time, making the static twice as nerve racking this time around. He finally spoke hesitantly, " _...Yes._ "

The Magical Girl breathed a sigh of relief and muttered to herself, smiling gently as she touched the radio to her forehead, "Good… I'm glad for that…" she pressed the transmission button and spoke through the device's speaker once again, "Okay, I'm making my way back now."

" _Homura,_ " Mr. Kaname replied, " _I'm sure you don't need me to tell you this, but stay safe._ "

She nodded, "Yes sir."

As the static resumed on the Walkie Talkie, she slipped it back under her buckler. The shield itself disappeared in a flame much in the same manner that it had appeared.

"So hey, I gotta know," Madoka asked as they walked, "how did you know that I wasn't this world's Madoka?"

Homura flipped her braided hair in response, "It was simple, really. First and foremost, our Madoka would never speak to anyone in the manner that you have spoken to me."

"Well then," the pinkette chuckled, "she must be a real submissive, huh?"

"Absolutely not; quite the opposite, in fact," the raven-haired girl furrowed her brow and denied, "This world's Madoka is one of the strongest people I know in this timeline, and was able to turn enemies into allies simply by who she is, a skill I find quite useful. Secondly, which is just as easy to see as the first, this Madoka doesn't have a left hand."

"Oh, jeez," Madoka commented, slightly astonished, "What's even going on in this timeline to have _THAT_ happen?"

Homura paused. Shadows covered her eyes and she hesitated, "...In a horrible turn of events that makes this world seem to be the most hopeless one yet, the Undead have risen and have consumed the world."

The pinkette blinked, "Well, that's… new..." then, she chuckled, "Sucks to be you guys."

After pausing for a moment, her face twisted in disgust, "ECKK! You smell absolutely awful! What, did you go swimming around in a dumpster full of onions and baby diapers? My Homura would NEVER be allowed to smell this bad for any reason other then my amusement, or there'd be SERIOUS consequences."

"Unfortunately, the Zombie Apocalypse allows no respite for personal hygiene," Homura irritably growled through clenched teeth, roughly shoving the pinkette forward with the barrel of her gun, "So would you kindly just shut up and walk?"

... _This MIGHT be harder than I thought,_ Madoka frowned. Then, her smirk reappeared menacingly, _It's a good thing I like a challenge._

* * *

Tomohisa Kaname nervously nibbled the knuckle of his index finger as he anxiously paced around the musty wooden cabin.

Running his hands through his greasy, brown hair, he glanced at all the survivors waiting in the candle-lit room: the blue-haired Tomoya Okazaki sat on the cabin's only couch with his cocoa-haired comrade, Izumi Shinichi, conversing with the burly, bald-headed, black U.S. Marine, Stephen Locke, with the schoolgirls Mio Naganohara and Aioi Yuuko standing near a close by coffee table.

Readjusting his square-rimmed glasses, he shifted his attention to the cabin's single window located next to the only entrance. Sayaka Miki anxiously gripped the sleeve of her cerulean sweater and sat with the wheelchair-bound rifleman, Kyosuke Kamijou, both looking out the window at an angle, so as to not be spotted by Walkers or any other unsavory forces.

Tomohisa called to the two, "Do you guys see them?"

"No, we got nothing…" Kyosuke moaned.

Tomohisa resumed his pacing and continued to bite his knuckle. He wondered if he had made the right call that morning for the group to split into teams and search for supplies. While everyone else had returned hours ago, he hadn't heard from Madoka and Homura's duo since they left, not even answering to his hailing over the Walkie-Talkie.

It didn't matter now. They were out there, and he had to live with it. Even with the Magical Girls, Mami Tomoe and Kyoko Sakura, searching for them, night had fallen, and they would soon have to barricade the door and window, regardless of whoever was still out there.

He grimaced. This thought made his stomach churn nauseously.

"...I-I see someone!" Sayaka exclaimed, "It's Kyoko and Mami!"

"What about the others?" Tomohisa inquired worriedly, "Do you see Madoka and Homura?"

The blunette strained her eyes as the two girl stepped up the porch to the cabin, "No… It's too dark…"

After the two girls entered, Tomohisa quickly asked, "Did you find them?"

Quickly closing the door behind them, both girls gave a dismal, negatory shake of their heads. Mami spoke dejectedly, "I'm sorry, Mr. Kaname. We found signs of struggle and even a blood trail, but nothing beyond that."

His eyes grew wide in horror, "...A-A b-blood trail?"

"Yeah," Kyoko nodded, "We followed it as far as we could, but then we came across this yard full o' Walkers. From where we could safely see, the trail led up a ladder into a treehouse, but it stopped a little under halfway up," she dropped her gaze to the ground and mumbled, "Whoever it was, poor soul probably tried to climb up for shelter, but got dragged back down and eaten…"

Tomohisa covered his mouth and gagged as images of his daughter's entrails being ripped from her still-screaming corpse and devoured by Walkers appeared in his mind's eye.

Noticing tears beginning to form in his eyes, the blonde tried to comfort him, "W-We still didn't find their bodies, Mr. Kaname, dead or otherwise. They could still be taking refuge somewhere out there."

Kyoko offered in consolation, "Those girls have balls, Mr. T. We know that. They'll be just fine, so don't go worryin' about it anymore, or I'll have to knock you one. I know they're still alive and kickin'; we'll find 'em tomorrow for sure, ain't no doubts about it."

Tomohisa paused for a moment to taking a deep, calming breath. Then, Mami frowned, "We do have another issue though. There was a small herd of Walkers where we were searching, those by the treehouse being only a small portion of them," she grimaced, "I fear they may be heading this way…"

"What about Madoka and Homura?" Sayaka worriedly called from the window, "We can't just ditch this place and leave them! What if they come back and we're not here?"

"We shouldn't have to leave," Mami grimly assured, "the herd wasn't so big that we would need to abandon our haven."

"Yeah," Kyoko nodded in agreement, "If we fortify our barricades just a little more and play it smart, we ain't got nothin' to worry about. We can defend this place just fine."

Tomohisa froze. He knew it was time to block off the entrance, but he hesitated. He wanted to vomit, knowing that he'll be trapping Madoka and Homura outside with the Walker herd for the night. He held back his bile but still grimaced; as the leader of the survivors, he knew his responsibility was keeping the group safe first and foremost. He had to trust Kyoko's words and pray that if his daughter and her friend were still alive, they could survive until morning.

With great hesitation, shadows covered his eyes as he dismally commanded, "...Tomoya, Izumi, Stephen, we need to seal the entrance before the herd gets here."

With all three standing to their feet, Tomoya furrowed his brow and asked, "Are you sure, Tomohisa? Maybe we could wait for them just a little longer…"

The father bit his lip apprehensively. Turning to Mami and Kyoko, he asked, "How far is the herd?"

With both girls avoiding his gaze, Kyoko dejectedly answered, "'Bout thirty minutes, at best… And that's bein' generous…"

Tomohisa's heart stopped. With heavy nausea burdening his stomach, he rubbed his face, greatly distressed. There was no window of time to wait. He turned to the men, standing in wait for his orders and answered, "Block the entrance…" dropping his gaze to the floor, he choked, tears threatening his eyes, "We don't know if they're still alive, and if they are, we don't know if they're ahead of the herd…"

With a sigh, Tomoya nodded, "I understand."

He and Izumi quickly moved towards a nearby bureau and started dragging it across the room. Stephen walked over to the father and placed a burly hand on his shoulder. He gave a gentle smile under his goatee, "I've seen what your little girl can do; she'll be just fine."

"...Thanks." Tomohisa hesitantly replied as he looked away, still slightly bitter towards the man whose comrade viciously shot Madoka just mere days earlier.

The Marine nodded and removed his grasp from the father's shoulder, quickly joining the other two men in moving the bureau to cover the window.

As the three men walked over and picked up the couch they were sitting on, time seemed to slow for Tomohisa. He glanced around at each survivor. A dismal air hung above everyone, with grim expressions of lost hope plastered on each person's face to match. He choked as he rubbed his face again. The last time they were in a situation similar to this, they lost a valuable member of their group, and he begged the Fates to not allow that to happen to his daughter.

Then, the sound of the knob of the front door turning and creaking open snapped him out of his fit of despair and time returned to normal. Everyone froze as the girls in question stood at the doorpost.

"...M-Madoka?" Tomohisa croaked.

With smile, Madoka dashed into the cabin and embraced her father, "Dad!"

Pulling away slightly, the father furrowed his brow and knelt to meet her on eye level, "Are two you okay?"

"More or less," the pinkette frowned slightly as she showed him the nasty cut across her wounded hand, "I sliced my hand pretty bad running from Walkers…"

Tomohisa grimaced, "That's not good. We need to patch that up."

He quickly stood up, walked to where they kept their medical supplies and retrieved some medical gauze and a few painkillers. He returned to his daughter and started wrapping her hand with the gauze. With Homura closing the door behind her, Tomohisa glanced at both girls and asked, "What happened?"

"We were looking for supplies when we got ambushed by a small herd of Walkers," Madoka stated as she swallowed the meds, grimacing as her father wrapped her hand tightly, "they separated us, and we found each other just as the sun started to set. We rested for a bit in a treehouse, then made our way here."

"Indeed," Homura nodded as she walked over, "the situation was quite frightening."

"...I see," Tomohisa stated. He sighed and smiled in relief, "I'm just happy you two are alive and safe," then, he stared at Homura and furrowed his brow, "What happened to your glasses and braids?"

As if caught off guard, the raven-haired girl gasped and stuttered, keeping her eyes away from his, "O-Oh, w-well… I… Um… We were… Uh… We were…"

"When we were being chased by Walkers, they caught up and pulled out her braids, then she lost glasses because of it," Madoka offered and finished for her. She glanced back at the girl and raised her eyebrows, "That's what you said, right?"

"Oh, um, yes. I said that," Homura quickly nodded.

Tomohisa gasped, "That's terrible!" Throwing his smile back on his face, "Again, I'm just grateful that you two are okay."

With the other men resuming their fortification of the barricade, the father noticed a small, twisted, black earring hanging from Homura's left ear. He raised his raised his eyebrows and asked her with slight intrigue, "That earring's new. Where'd you get it?"

With a slight gasp, the girl avoided his gaze and stuttered, "I, um… I found it…"

"Hmm…" he furrowed his brow, "I feel it looks just a little bit too gaudy for you," he shrugged and chuckled as he stood to his feet, just finishing up patching his daughter's hand, "but who am I to judge a girl's fashion sense?"

With the girls back in the cabin, the dismal air that hung over the survivors dissipated to a degree, all relieved that their comrades were alive and safe. Tomohisa smiled at his daughter-who returned the smile and nodded-then quickly went to aid Tomoya and the others in blocking off the entrance with the couch and coffee table.

Carrying the table with Stephen, Tomohisa noticed Homura staring at Madoka with a twisted grin out of the corner of his eye as he passed. The expression made him uneasy and he frowned, _I don't like her staring at Madoka like that. She told me Madoka was a dear friend to her, but could've she meant something else entirely…?_ He shook his head, disgusted with the thought, _I would've never taken her for someone like that. I'll have to keep my eyes on-_

Then, static interference resounded from the Walkie Talkie in his pack across the room, followed by someone's voice hailing from it.

Shocked, Tomohisa gently set the table down and briskly walked over to the group's baggage, retrieving the radio from his duffle bag.

A familiar female voice hailed again through the static, " _Mr. Kaname, are you there? I repeat: This is Homura Akemi. Please respond!"_

Everyone gasped in shock. Immediately, all the survivors turned their attention to raven-haired girl standing with Madoka, confusion drowning out her own expression.

Without taking his eyes off the girl next to his daugher, Tomohisa pressed the transmission button and hesitantly replied, "...Homura? Where are you? Is everything alright?"

" _I am fine,"_ the voice responded, " _but I got separated from Madoka. Is she with you all?"_

Tomohisa paused, still reeling in confusion as he stared at the girl and his daughter, "...Yes."

" _Good,"_ the voice stated, relief evident even through the static, " _I'm making my way back now."_

"Homura…" Tomohisa hesitated, "...I'm sure you don't need me to tell you this, but stay safe."

" _Yes, sir,"_ she quickly replied, then was replaced by static interference once more.

Everyone froze as their staring eyes became silent glares, bearing down on the imposter in their midst, the only sounds being that of the idle radio.

Madoka immediately drew her Python revolver from her thigh and aimed it at the brunette's head.

'Homura's' eyes grew wide in terror as she gasped and stuttered, "M-Madoka, w-what are you do-"

The pinkette interrupted with a glare and growled darkly, "I'm going to ask this once: Who. Are. You?"


	2. Night of Judgement

Homura groggily opened her eyes, her hazy vision clearing. Her left eye stung horribly, and she didn't know why. Grimacing at the newfound pain, she muttered, "What… What happened?"

Her memory blanked out as she tried to recall her memories.

 _Well,_ she thought, _the last thing I remember… Madoka and I arrived at the cabin… she spoke briefly with her father, then…_ she furrowed her brow, straining her brow top remember. She gulped as her eyes widened slightly, _She aimed her gun at me…! She requested to know who I was. Surely it was a test, a fairly common one that she'd used quite a bit during my training. As such, I bowed low and said "I am your loyal servant, my beloved mistress."_

She grimaced and recoiled, whimpering as tears started forming, _I must've answered incorrectly… She just got mad and punched me with her leather-bound wrist and knocked me out cold..._

She attempted to lift her hand to touch her wounded eye, but quickly discovered that her appendage refused to move. Confused, she gazed down at her torso to discover she had been tied down to a small wooden chair, constricted by rope. She twisted and turned in a struggle to break free, but the ropes wouldn't budge. She furrowed her brow worriedly and moaned, "...Again?"

Then, she felt cold steel tap against her cheek as the voice of her girlfriend stated lowly, "Hey, you're awake. Time to answer some questions."

Realizing that she had overslept again (a grievance punished by twenty-five laps around the border of Mitakihara), the demon panicked as her sleepiness was immediately eradicated by her terror. She shot her eyes to look at the Madoka's face, releasing how much of the pinkette's patience she must've exhausted, "M-M-M-Madoka!"

"Don't call me that," the pinkette growled shortly, crossing her arms, "Only my friends and family can call me by my name."

 _Oh no!_ Homura's eyes grew wide in fear, _She's in one of her moods! She completely furious! The only thing that could cheer her up now would be for me to lick the her feet clean with my tongue,_ she grimaced, _And, given my current position, it will be impossible..._

With sweat appearing on her forehead thinking about the various punishments in store for her today, she gulped and stuttered, "Y-Yes, Mistress…"

"Speaking of," Madoka's eyes narrowed, "Who are you?"

"B-But, Mistress," the brunette spoke fearfully, "It's m-me, your darling Homura-chan..."

She gulped at that last part, knowing Madoka would never allow the demon to refer to herself as such under normal circumstances.

Instead slingling the regular verbal slurs and violent curses, shadows covered the pinkette's eyes as her arms fell limply to her sides, fist clenching her Python revolver tightly, "Don't lie to me, and don't call me 'Mistress'," she glowered through clenched teeth, "I don't have patience for fakers, so tell me: who are you, and where's my friend?"

"B-But…!" the demon squeaked, tears forming in her eyes again **.** Did their separation through the Time Stream really irritate the pinkette so much that she'd refuse to even acknowledge their relationship?

Not knowing what else to do or say Homura bit her lip and cried, "M-M-Madoka, you're m-my girlfriend…"

"That's enough!" the pinkette hissed. She lunged towards the brunette-who recoiled in fear-and placed the cold barrel of her firearm at the demon's temple. She growled lowly, "Liars don't last very long here. The only thing we are anymore are survivors. There are no more girlfriends, boyfriends, or anything like that. There's only the living and the dead. Us, and the Walkers. The only relationship that exists now is that of familial bond we've built within our group, because anything else will get us killed," she glowered, shoving the pistol more forcefully into the demon's skull, "You remember what I said happens to anyone who gets in the way of that bond, right?"

Homura whimpered under the weight of the pinkette's glare and weapon, only managing to sputter, "L-L-L-Lose…?"

"That's right," the pinkette nodded darkly, "And just guess how that happens."

With eyes wide and shaking fearfully, Homura remembered the story of the man who shot Madoka in the chest. Then, her mind's eye immediately dragged her to a horrific scene of her strapped to the chair as she currently was, with the pinkette apathetically holding her revolver to the demon's forehead, and a long, sanguine stream of blood spurting out of the back of her skull, splattering the wall behind her a crimson red.

Not that any of that would kill her; it would merely be excruciatingly painful and mildly inconvenient. However, what left Homura's jaw agape and speechless was the thought that her dear Mistress would resort to something so terrible, something so awful that not even her agonizing training had ever touched upon.

And even so, one thought screamed above the rest at the pinkette's mention of a familial bond. Homura choked as her tears started to drip down her face, _Madoka… doesn't love me anymore...?_

Her lips mouthed wordless syllables, completely broken after Madoka's revelation.

"Jeez, Madoka, that's a bit harsh," the irritating voice of a familiar mongrel chuckled as she walked over to the two. The blunette in question placed a hand on the pinkette's shoulder and gently eased her away. She furrowed her brow, "It doesn't look like it's working. We're not gonna get anything out of her if she's scared to death."

"Yeah," Madoka sighed, the intensity in her face melting into worried anxiousness as she stepped away from the captive, "I guess you're right…" she grimaced, "I'm… just worried for Homura, y'know?"

"We all are," Sayaka nodded, "But you know as well I do that she can handle herself out there. Your dad and I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for her. She'll be fine."

"I… I know…" holding back a sob, the pinkette took a deep breath and muttered as she holstered her weapon, "I'm going to see if Dad needs help with anything..."

"Alright," the blunette nodded again. She smirked and glanced at the demon rope-bound to a wooden chair, "I'll try my hand to see if I can get any info out of our little prisoner."

Giving a nod, Madoka walked back towards the middle of the candle-lit cabin where Mr. Kaname and some other people Homura cared very little about waited.

With the pinkette gone, the demon's expression of sorrow and horror quickly twisted to absolute disgust as she glared at the mongrel still stupidly smiling at her.

Before Homura could voice her distaste for the situation, Sayaka chuckled, "Well, looks like the 'Bad Cop' half of our 'Good Cop, Bad Cop' routine didn't really pan out. So, I guess that means I'm gonna be your 'Good Cop'."

Homura rolled her eyes, "Whoever was stupid enough to even metaphorically induct an idiot like you into the police force should be fired."

Sayaka narrowed her eyes at the demon's comment, "...I'm just gonna ignore that," then, she crossed her arms, shook her head and sighed, "...Okay, I'm gonna give it to you straight here; you're on a thin thread. Trying to infiltrate us and lyin' about who you are doesn't exactly give us the warm fuzzies. In fact," she pointed to the group of people that Madoka had walked over to, now sitting in a rough circle in the bare foyer of the cabin, warily staring at the single entrance barricade by a couch and a coffee table, "you see those people over there?"

Homura craned her neck to glance at the group: she could see two young Asian men, Mr. Kaname and Madoka-who she smiled at the sight of, despite the fear that the pinkette just instilled in her; a burly, middle-aged negro man in a green, sweaty tanktop; Shizuki Hitomi's wheelchair-bound lover, Kamijou Kyosuke; two young schoolgirls, and the magical girls, Tomoe Mami and Sakura Kyoko.

As she turned her irritated attention back to Sayaka, she noticed out of the corner of her eyes the each group member stole short, nervous glances at her. Ignoring them, she furrowed her brow and retorted apathetically, "Yes, but I fail to see how that matters. I don't care for any of them except my dear Madoka."

Sayaka frowned, "Half of them think we should execute you, including 'your dear' Madoka,"

Homura gasped inwardly, _S-S-She's mad enough to try to kill m-m-me?!_ she shoo'd away the horrid thought and calmed herself, _N-No, that's not possible. Surely, Madoka still loves me. Miki is just trying to get in my head, that's all._

Sayaka grimly continued, "and the other half just wants you gone. Leave you to the Walkers, fend for yourself, whatever. Y'see, we build our group on a whole lotta trust, and when someone comes in and breaks that trust, we don't take to kindly to it."

Turning her head to avoid her gaze, Homura rolled her eyes and harrumphed, "And I should believe a mongrel like you because…?"

The blunette scowled and glowered, clenching her fists tightly, "Listen, chick! You're a stranger in a group that wants you dead! You may look like our friend, but everyone knows that you're not. If it weren't for me willing to stick my neck out for ya, you'd already be gone!"

She took a deep breath to calm herself. Throwing on a smile, she asked, "...You ever heard of the Ace Attorney games?"

 _What is she doing now?_ Homura narrowed her gaze, _Whatever it is, I won't let her into ruin my psyche. I won't let her in between me and my darling Mistress!_ she paused, _...I also won't let her know that I do enjoy the Ace Attorney games quite a bit..._

"Perhaps," the demon replied vaguely, "Perhaps not. But I must question the reason that you brought this up. Foolish, I'm sure, yet I'm still curious."

Sayaka frowned again, "You're really making this difficult for me, aren't you?" She sighed again and explained, throwing on another smile, this one noticeably forced, "Back before the apocalypse hit, there was this game franchise about lawyers and law and stuff called 'Ace Attorney'. The main protagonist that you played as was this lawyer named Phoenix Wright," she gave a genuine chuckle, "Man, I really loved those games because of him. He always believed in the truth and fought through all kinds of evil just to preserve justice," she stared at the ground, losing herself in her own words, "He was a hero… Heh… A hero of justice…"

"Hmm," Homura mused, "It appears that I was correct in believing that a mongrel like yourself couldn't make a cohesive correlation with your points of argument."

Sayaka's gentle grin disappeared as the glow in her eyes dimmed. Her voice became laced with apathetic hopelessness as she stated, "...C'mon. Don't make us kill someone else. We've seen way too much of that already..." she sighed, "I'm… I'm trying to help you out here. If you just tell us who you are and what you want without lying again, everything'll be okay. But if you don't…" she paused, then sighed, "I'm the last line of defense between you and Madoka's revolver or the jaws of a Walker. I don't want to see anyone else die... Just... Please… Let me be your Phoenix Wright."

Homura's glare narrowed as she sized up the blunette with her gaze, "... _You're_ my last line of defense?" she rolled her eyes and scoffed, "You might as well just kill me now."

Clenching her fists tightly again, Sayaka's face twisted in rage as she screamed,"RHAAHH! THAT'S IT!"

She drew her hand back and struck the raven-haired girl with a powerful punch directly on her nose, causing the demon to recoil.

Homura blinked in shock at the pain coursing through her face, refusing to believe the mongrel just did that to her. With her nose now bleeding and swelling in an ugly purple hue, she glowered as her eye twitched, "You insolent fool! When I get out these ropes, I'll throw your Soul Gem into the sea and use my magic to make your body run around the city na-"

"WOAH! SAYAKA!" Mr. Kaname interrupted her threat with a yell as he and Madoka quickly dashed over to them. The man stopped between the two and grabbed the blunette's drawn-back fist in order to keep her from striking again. He asked worriedly, "What happened?"

"Tseh," she spat. Relaxing her arm, she shook off his grip and turned away. She muttered bitterly as she started shuffling back to the group, "You guys do what you want with her; I'm done..."

Staring at her friend trudging away, Madoka sighed, "I guess that's it then," she turned and glared at the captive as she drew her revolver and aimed it at at her forehead.

Mr. Kaname gasped, "MADOKA!"

Homura's eyes grew wide and shook in terror. She gulped and stuttered, "B-But, Madoka…! I… I love you!"

The pinkette growled, "No more lies. No more tricks," her scowl darkened viciously and clenched her teeth as she cocked the hammer on her Python, "No more screwing with us."

As she began to squeeze the trigger, Homura recoiled and yelped, but Tomohisa quickly stepped in and stole the weapon before she could fire. He shook his head and stated grimly, "You know that we're better than this, Madoka. You know that one person doesn't get to decide the life of another."

"B-But Dad…" Madoka's vicious expression quickly melted as she looked to be on the verge of tears, "H-Homura…"

Pushing up with glasses, he knelt down to meet her on eye level, "I know, sweetie. I'm worried too, but killing the imposter won't bring her back safely," he motioned with the Walkie Talkie still in his hand, "Homura said over the radio that she was making her way back. She'll be here soon, I promise."

Madoka dropped her gaze to the ground, closed her eyes and whimpered, "Please stop making promises over things you can't control..."

Throwing on a small, consoling smile, He placed his hand on her shoulder and stated, "Madoka, back when this whole thing started, Homura saved both mine and Sayaka's life. I have the utmost faith that she'll be okay."

They paused in silence. Then, Madoka stole an anxious glance at their prisoner. Tomohisa noticed this and furrowed his brow, somberly answering the question hanging in the pinkette's mind, "She won't be staying with us; I want to give her one last chance to see what her story is, why she looks like Homura, or anything else that will help us out. If she still refuses to cooperate, we'll call a vote with the group to see what to do with her as we always do for these things."

With a deep, heavy sigh, Madoka choked, "Okay…"

He nodded to her as she stepped away, yet remained in close proximity. He turned to Homura still recovering from Madoka's scare. He sighed, "I suppose we all got off on the wrong foot. My name is Tomohisa Kaname, and I'm the leader of the group we have here, and Madoka's father."

 _Of course, I'm fully aware of this,_ Homura remained silent as she pondered, _I don't quite understand what's going on, but perhaps I'll learn if I simply play along. Perhaps this is what Madoka wants…_ she grinned, _Yes, that must be it; my Mistress merely wants me to play along with the scenario she's begun here. It sounds like the others are in on it as well. They're even pretending that there's another me running around to spice it up! Oh, Madoka! You never cease to think of masterfully crafted ideas!_

She scowled, _Of course, I'm fully certain that the bloody nose wasn't apart of the plan. My Mistress wouldn't allow any pain to come to me! Miki must've taken over for a moment after all. I'll just have to pay that mongrel back ten-fold later,_ she inwardly sighed, _But for now..._

She cleared her throat and stated confidently, "Yes sir. My name is Akemi Homura."

She smirked, _I must admit, this is much easier with someone I mildly respect. Kaname-san may be a little overprotective over my Madoka, but he's a good man and a good father. I can respect that much._

Tomohisa sighed and rubbed his forehead. He spoke with slight traces of irritation, "...Okay. Well then, who was that on the radio?"

"I am not sure," the demon replied plainly, "As I said, I lost the Walkie Talkie running from Walkers."

The man narrowed his gaze and asked slowly and deliberately, "...Then, why did she claim to be you?"

 _Naturally, it's all apart an elaborate plan to bring about enjoyment for Madoka; It's most likely just a fabricated pre-recording or something to that nature._

That's what she wanted to say, but she worried that Madoka may punish her if she knew the demon had found out sooner than anticipated. Instead, she shrugged her shoulders and responded smugly, "I'm not sure."

"Okay," shadows covered his eyes as he sighed and took a step back, "I've found out what I wanted to know."

She smiled, _With perfection, as usual. Surely, Madoka must be proud of my performa-_

"Madoka," Tomohisa stated, "Get everyone together. It's time to vote on whether we kill her or kick her out."

"Alright," the pinkette nodded grimly.

 _W-W-W-WHAT?!_ the demon gasped as her eyes grew wide in shocked terror, horrified that she'd be separated once again from her Mistress. She gulped as both tears and nervous sweat began forming in her eyes and forehead respectively, _B-But… I answered perfectly…! I… I don't understand…_

Before she realized it, every single survivor had crowded around the corner that held Homura captive.

The red-haired Sakura Kyoko was the first to speak up, resting her hands behind her forehead, "So, we ever figure the mystery behind the whole 'Two Akemis' thing?"

Tomohisa nodded, "I think I've got a decent grasp on the ordeal. But before I explain it, let's take care of the prisoner first."

He paused and took a deep breath, then pushed up his glasses and started explaining, "I am the leader of this group. We decided that long ago. I've been tasked with being the deciding judge on any given scenario with as much wisdom as I can, but this is not a dictatorship. The burden of an individual's life cannot be shouldered by one person alone. We have determined to take matters like this into a democracy; we vote on everything. So now, I ask you; as my group and my family, what should we do with this imposter?"

 _I-Imposter?_ Homura sat motionless and jaw agape, her only movement being her terrible trembling and fearful tears forming in her eyes, _S-Surely this is not apart of my Mistress' plans… Of course! She'll stop this all before something hasty happens! I just know it!_

Her thoughts were interrupted by Madoka herself clenching her fist, looking to the ground and stating darkly, "You already know my vote."

Tomohisa sighed and nodded, "Noted."

Homura gulped, _I hope…_

Kamijou furrowed his brow and spoke next from his wheelchair, "She's crafty, I can see it in her eyes; someone like that could be a thorn in our side later. I don't think we should even consider giving that a chance to happen."

Tomoe Mami shook her head and pleaded, "What has this girl actually done wrong?" She motioned with an open hand and exclaimed, "Just look at her! She's terrified, and probably just doing whatever she can to survive! Isn't that what any of us would do?" she gulped and choked, "Please… I beg you… Let's not have a repeat of Bill…"

The blue-haired asian man nodded, "I agree. Killing her seems pretty unnecessary. While I wasn't with you guys for the whole 'Bill' incident, I think it's best to retain what humanity we have left."

Sayaka sighed, turned to walk away and added apathetically, "Like I said before, just get rid of her. I don't care how you do it; just do it."

Kyoko tilted her head upwards and smirked, "I'm all for splattering her brains so long as I get to do it."

Homura gagged at the thought.

Mami's expression twisted in disgust, "Kyoko! That's absolutely morbid!"

The red-head rolled her eyes, "Ain't just about everything morbid nowadays?"

"I suppose," the blonde crossed her arms and glared, "But you don't have to add to it."

Kyoko merely shrugged, "Eh."

One of the schoolgirls, the one with blue pigtails, spoke up, "I honestly don't really care either way."

Her friend, the one with caramel-colored hair shook her head, "Yeah, me neither."

The burly negro man in the grass-green tanktop crossed his arms and threw in his two cents, "If you ask me, all life is precious. Self-defense is one thing, but murder is something completely different, and a path none should follow."

The chocolate-haired asian frowned at him, "Stephen, don't you remember Robert? Lives like that shouldn't be spared," he turned his glare to the demon, "She's got the same eyes he had; shifty, and filled with apathetic malice for the world. I don't think we should let her live."

With everyone's votes in place, Tomohisa rubbed his chin and closed his eyes, taking what everyone had said into consideration. Then, he grimly stated as he reopened his eyes, "I've come to a decision," he turned to the red-haired Magical Girl, "Well Kyoko," he motioned towards the prisoner, "you said you wanted to be the one to do it."

The red-head smirked again and summoned her spear, "With pleasure, Mr. T," with a skillful spin of her weapon, she began menacingly stalking towards the prisoner like a hungry predator, "It's been too long since I've seen some REAL action."

Mami gasped, ran to Tomohisa's side and grabbed his upper arm. She begged fervently, "Mr. Kaname! Please! You mustn't allow this! We can't murder another person!"

He sighed, "...I'm sorry Mami, but there were four votes to kill her and three votes to spare her. This is what the group had to say."

"B-But…" the blonde stuttered, desperately grasping for straws, "Y-You're a father! You have a daughter just like her! How can you just allow this to happen?!"

Remembering the twisted stares that the captive had been giving to Madoka before they restrained her, Tomohisa stated lowly as shadows covered his eyes, "My daughter is why I'm allowing this to happen."

"B-But…" Mami turned her gaze back to the raven-haired girl, "N-No…"

Meanwhile, Homura began to panic. Madoka wasn't stopping this like the demon thought she would've by now. With tears now finally breaking from her eyes and streaming down her cheeks, she craned her neck to see past the red-head-now close enough to strike-to plead with the pinkette. She stuttered and croaked, "M-M-Madoka…!"

"I said not to call me that," Madoka glared and turned away, "I don't know you."

"B-B-But…!" the demon cried.

With a twist of her neck that caused a loud cracking sound, Kyoko smirked as brought her spear to the ready, "Hey, just wanna let ya know, this ain't nothin' personal."

Homura grimaced and whimpered as the red-head reared her spear back to strike. However, the blow never landed, as static from Mr. Kaname's radio blared through and interrupted the attack, saving the demon from horrendous amounts of pain.

Homura heard her own familiar voice spoke through the device, anxiety clearly audible, " _Mr. Kaname, we're coming upon the cabin very shortly, and if you have the entrance blocked as I instructed this morning, we need that cleared and opened ASAP."_

"...We?" Tomohisa furrowed his brow and questioned through the speaker.

" _There's no time to explain!"_ the voice worriedly responded, " _We just need you to unblock the barricade and open that door, NOW!"_

He gasped, already guessing what was wrong. He gulped and transmitted, "Understood."

He called out loud enough for everyone in the cabin to hear, "EVERYONE! We gotta get the barricades out of the way! Homura's on her way in and she has no window of time left!"

As if forgetting all about the demon's execution, Kyoko gasped. She cursed, "Son of a…!" and tossed her spear to the ground, joining all the other able-bodied survivors immediately rushing towards the makeshift barricade.

As the group strained and started pulling away the couch, Tomohisa grimaced as an overwhelming stench of rotting flesh permeated the air of the cabin, confirming his fear. Setting the couch down just far away enough to open the door, they all dashed back to remove the coffee table. Low moans began to resonate from the outside.

As, they gently set the table by the couch, Madoka looked at up her father worriedly and gasped, "Dad, Walkers…!"

He grimly nodded, "I know."

He dashed to the door and grabbed the handle. He paused for a moment to take a long breath, then threw open the door. He felt the wind of Homura's body rush past him into the cabin. He froze in shock as he stared slack-jawed at the large group of Walkers shambling towards the haven, their terrible moans filling the previously silent night.

"MR. KANAME!" He heard Homura hiss, her voice strained by fatigue, "THE DOOR!"

Breaking out of his trance, he gasped, slammed the door shut and braced his shoulder against it. He called out, "Quick! The barricades!"

However, no one moved. Confused, he turned his head and opened his mouth to repeat the command, but then discovered why no one had moved. Someone had ran in with Homura. That someone was now doubled over with their hands on their knees next to the raven-haired girl, both breathing heavily and out of breath. That someone was a second Madoka.

Tomohisa's eyes grew wide as he breathed, "...Dear lord."

The new pinkette wheezed, "Jeez... this world... really... went all-out with... the whole... 'zombie' thing," she chuckled in amusement, standing to her feet and glancing at the survivor Homura, "I swear, I think there was around forty of them chasing us at one point! Right, Homura-chan?"

"FORTY?!" Mr. Kaname exclaimed fearfully as he shot a worriedly glare to the raven-haired girl, now sitting down and leaning on her hands behind her.

The girl nodded as she pushed up her glasses, "There was, but I killed a few and we outran some others. If my count is correct, about twenty still remain," seeing the worry still plastered on the man's face, Homura nodded and assured, "Reinforce the blockade. We'll be fine as long as we keep quiet."

Then, the captive brunette that the Walkers caused everyone to momentarily forget about hesitantly called from across the room, hints of confusion evident in her voice, "...M-Mistress?"

The new Madoka turned to the voice, furrowed her brow and started walking over to the prisoner, "Homura-chan! There you are."

The bounded Homura gasped gleefully in relief, "Madoka! I'm so glad to see you! I was so frightened when we got separated!"

"Yeah, remind me to punish you for that when we get home," the pinkette deadpanned.

The captive's expression drooped, "B-But…"

Then, Sayaka hesitantly asked the center of the room, "I take it you two… know each other…?"

"Yeah," Madoka replied without even looking at the blunette. She responded as she eyed her girlfriend's current predicament, "We came from the same place," she frowned at her Homura, placed her hands on her hips and began chastising her like a child, "...Homura-chan? Did you ride this world's Madoka's scooter without asking? Is that why you're tied up?"

The demon shook her head furiously in denial, "N-No, Mistress! I didn't, I swear!"

"That's not what the black eye and bloody nose are telling me," The pinkette crossed her arms, "Well then, why _ARE_ you tied up?"

Homura gulped and whimpered, "I… I'm not certain anymore…"

Madoka sighed and shook her head, "Then why didn't you just break free with your powers? You're a demon, dangit!"

The brunette blinked, as if coming to a sudden realization, "Oh… That's right…"

The girl then closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and in the next moment, the ropes that had bound her simply fell off as if they hadn't even been tied. Her knees popped as she stood to her feet. Kneeling down to rub her thighs, she moaned, "Agh… That chair is an absolute murderer on my legs…"

"Now then," Madoka nodded and smirked as she started turning back towards the group, "let's go find a place to stay for the ni-"

She was interrupted as now stared down the steel barrel of revolver held by the survivor Madoka. The weaponless pinkette chuckled, "...Alright."

The survivor had a less jovial expression as she frowned at her mirror copy. Cocking the hammer on her gun with her thumb, she glared darkly and growled, "Who are you and why do you look like me?"

"Jeez, kid," Kyoko mused from the group still gawking at the dopplegangers, "New people really ain't your forte, are they?"

Ignoring the girl's jest, the survivor ordered the other pinkette, her grip tensing tightly on her gun, "Answer me!"

The latter scowled, _No one tells me what to do; I'M the only one can order me arou-Oh, wait..._

The weaponless Madoka ended up laughing as she gently placed her hand on top of the firearm eased the weapon out of her face, "Easy now, calm down! I'll tell ya everything you wanna know."

Clearing her throat and stepping past the other Madoka, the pinkette and demon walked to the middle of the cabin. The former smiled and spoke loud enough for all to hear, "So hi, I'm Madoka," she pointed to herself, "I'm a Goddess," she pointed to her Homura, "you've already met Homura; she's a demon," she chuckled and shrugged, "and we're from the future."


	3. Night of Confrontation

The new Madoka walked to the center of the room and smiled, "So, hi, I'm Madoka, and I'm a Goddess. You've already met Homura; she's a demon," she chuckled, "And we're from the future!"

Still bracing his body against the door, Tomohisa's eyes-along with the rest of the survivors-grew wide in shock as he gawked at his daughter's mirror copy. He breathed, "...W-What?"

However, he didn't have any time to gape and question the existence of a second Madoka, as the Walkers began viciously growling and pounding on the door. He gasped and called, "EVERYONE! THE BARRICADES!"

And, just like that, everyone forgot about the 'Goddess' and 'Demon' as they worriedly scrambled around the cabin. Hearing the wooden door beginning to crack, Tomohisa called anxiously and grunted as the entrance shook with each rhythmic attack from the Walkers, "Izumi, Stephen, Tomoya! The dresser!"

"On it!" The blue-haired man nodded as the three rushed to a long dresser on the opposite side of room.

As the men started dragging the furniture across the room, the new Madoka pursed her lips and crossed her arms, very much unhappy that she was being ignored, "Um, hello? Goddess here."

Tomohisa paid no attention to her and ordered his daughter, "Madoka, you and the girls grab the couch!"

The survivor pinkette nodded, "Okay!"

As the Puella Magi dashed to each corner of the couch, the new pinkette closed her eyes, sighed, and growled, "Excuse me! I SAID-"

Carrying the middle of the sofa to keep it balanced, Kyoko glared at her and hissed, "Yeah, just give us a sec, Pinky; we're a little busy! Just hold your horses, and we'll get back to ya in a minute!"

As the survivors began positioning the blockade against the door, the new Madoka sighed irritably, shook her head, then puckered her lips into a pout. Then, her pout retracted into a small smirk and she nodded to her Homura. They started to explore the small, one-room cabin inquisitively.

"So," Madoka asked the brunette as they examined the inner workings of the quaint little cabin, "Whatcha think?"

"W-Well, Mistress…" Homura rubbed her chin and answered, "I don't really remember much of this timeline, but I've already discerned that this one is much more dangerous than the ones I do remember. I feel it would be wise to remain cautious while here…"

Madoka furrowed her brow, "No, I meant the cabin interior. I was just thinking we should turn your house into something like a rustic summer home or something, and this place was giving me a few ideas."

The demon stuttered, "O-Oh… Right… I-I'm sorry..."

The pinkette shrugged and smirked again, "We'll be fine. These other usses seem to know how this world works, so we'll just use them to keep us safe and unharmed. We DID live through this, after all."

"Well, _I_ lived through this," Homura pointed her index finger upwards and corrected.

Madoka shot her an icy glare. Homura gasped fearfully, knowing that the scalding vortex of the rinse cycle of the pinkette's Washing Machine awaited in her future. She inwardly moaned. She didn't need her dark power to understand the message that Madoka's irritated eyes were sending her.

To Homura's minor, momentary relief, Madoka stopped glaring as the survivors' luggage sitting under the cabin's wooden fireplace at the far end of the room caught her attention. Intrigued, she noticed an odd, ebony handle sticking out of the top of one of the duffle bags. She walked over, knelt over the bag and motioned for the demon to do the same, "Homura-chan, come check this out!"

"Yes ma'am!" Homura nodded and quickly obeyed.

With the two girls crouching over the bag, the Pinkette grabbed the handle and pulled out the handgun that was attached to it. Her eyes widened slightly as she marveled at it, "Homura-chan, it's a gun!"

The demon nodded and acknowledged, "Indeed, an M9 Beretta. A standard sidearm for many military forces. It's as reliable as they come."

Madoka closed one eye and stuck her tongue out amusedly as she aimed haphazardly down the iron sights. Turning her aim to Homura's face, she mused, "You just point and pull the trigger, right?"

The brunette's eyes grew wide as she gasped. Gingerly pushing the gun out of her face, she explained, "W-Well, actually... " she pointed to a little switch on the left side of the gun, "You have to turn the safety off first…"

"Ohhhh!" Madoka exclaimed amusedly. With a giddy grin, her thumb flipped the switch to the 'Off' position and she giggled, "Oh, Homura-chan! Just think of all the training we could do with this!"

Knowing that her girlfriend would now never put the safety back on, Homura gasped again slightly and gulped. Feeling cold and ill from watching the pinkette wave the weapon around nonchalantly, she stuttered fearfully, "W-W-What kind of t-training?"

"Hmm… I dunno..." Madoka furrowed her brow and placed her lip on side of the sleek barrel as she pondered, "That's a good question…"

Then, a twisted grin cracked on her face as she noticed the survivor Homura standing and examining the barricade with the rest of the survivors. She stated, "Oh, you know, the basics."

Then, Madoka folded her arms around her back to conceal the weapon and walked across the room where the survivors had gathered. Stopping behind the raven-haired girl, she leaned playfully back and forth on the balls of her feet and practically sang out, "Oh, Homura-chan~!"

The Magical Girl turned and furrowed her brow. She responded apathetically as she glared at the Goddess, "Yes? What is it?"

The latter whistled playfully, "You know earlier in that one neighborhood how I told you to kneel at my feet?"

The raven-haired girl pushed up her red-rimmed glasses and scowled, "Sure, what of it?"

"I meant it."

Madoka then immediately whipped the pistol from around her back, flipped it to grasp the barrel and bashed the front Homura's skull with great force at the hilt of the weapon. The raven-haired girl shrieked in pain as she collapsed to the floor, quickly shooting her hands up to her now-bleeding forehead. The Walkers just outside the door moaned even louder and their assault became even more violent at the girl's cry of agony.

The survivor Madoka cried out from where she was looking at the blockade and quickly dropped to her knees beside her friend, "HOMURA!"

"I'm…" The raven-haired girl grimaced and breathed deeply, dizziness evident in her voice, "I'm… okay, Madoka… It's… It's just a flesh wound..."

"Homura-chan, this is your first lesson;" the other Madoka stated, causing all the survivors to turn their attention to her. She continued with a twisted smirk, "When I say you do something, you are to do it without any further thoug-"

"RWAAAHHH!" The survivor pinkette's face twisted in rage as she screamed and flew at the Goddess, tackling to the ground, causing the latter to drop the Beretta a few feet away.

The survivor quickly straddled her mirror self and wrapped the fingers of her only hand around the other's throat, applying pressure on top with her cast in an attempt to strangle the Goddess out.

Completely taken by the shock of what just happened, the Goddess began kicking violently to throw the survivor off, to no avail. She had her pinned. Clawing at the former's arms, the latter's face drowned in ire herself as she choked out a command, "RELEASE… ME… MONGREL…!"

The survivor Madoka's merely lifted her skull and bashed it against the wooden floor in response.

Now slightly dizzy, the Goddess' entire head coursed with pain and her lungs were losing air fast. Madoka stopped clawing with her right hand and reached for the pistol she dropped. The survivor quickly noticed this and knocked the weapon across the room with her cast, then immediately resumed her merciless throttling.

The Goddess glared, "YOU… LITTLE… B-"

Her curse was interrupted by another head-to-floor bashing. This time, her vision whited out for a moment.

But the survivor didn't relent, and merely squeezed the latter's trachea tighter, causing the other pinkette to choke and gurgle. She slammed her skull once more with all her strength. On the third strike, the Goddess fell limp. Her hands dropped with a thud to the floor as her eyes and jaw still hung wide open and agape in shocked anger, drool dripping down both edges of her mouth. The survivor Madoka sat atop her now-comatose doppleganger, still strangling her throat.

When she was completely sure that her mirror was dead, Madoka released her now-purple neck and stood to her feet, breathing heavily.

Still standing by the furnace, the new Homura cried as she stretched her hand out towards the lifeless pinkette, "M-MISTRESS!"

Madoka shot her a vicious glare, causing the brunette to steel herself against the nearest wall, with fear, sorrow, distress and confusion all simultaneously mixing in her face.

"How bad is it?" Madoka heard her father ask the survivor Homura.

The pinkette dropped back down next to her wounded friend and fretted worriedly, "A-Are you okay, Homura?"

With Mr. Kaname examining her bleeding cranium with both hands, the raven-haired girl nodded and stated painfully, "Yes… I'm fine… I don't think that anything is broken…"

With the blood from her head's wound now dripping down his hands, Tomohisa frowned as the area around the bleeding started to glow a dark purple, "No, but I _am_ worried about any head trauma… She was able to draw blood, and I'm worried she may have given you a concussion..." He ordered his daughter, "Madoka, quick: get the gauze from my bag so I can wrap this up."

The pinkette stood up and nodded, "Okay!"

She quickly hopped over her mirror's corpse and dashed to the fireplace on the other side of the room. Approaching her dad's mildly ransacked duffle bag, she knelt down and frowned, mumbling to herself, "This must be where she got the gun…"

Shaking her head and sighing, she quickly reached in and grabbed the medical gauze and some painkillers, balancing them in her single hand. As she stood up to return to Homura and her father, she noticed the demon still trembling against the wall. The pinkette glared at her and growled, "I warned you not to play games with my family."

That Homura didn't utter a sound, but merely widened her eyes and gulped as she nodded her head slowly.

Without sparing her another glance, Madoka swiftly ran back to her father and her Homura, both of whom were anxiously staring at the barricaded door being rapidly attacked by the undead.

She heard the raven-haired girl affirm, albeit with very low confidence, "...It will hold."

Tomohisa gulped, "I hope your right…"

Madoka knelt back down and handed her father the gauze and Homura the medicine, "Here."

Pushing Homura's now-sticky, sanguine, blood-covered bangs, Tomohisa nodded and began carefully wrapping her skull tightly, "Thanks."

As he patched her up, Homura quickly spun open the top of the medical capsule and poured two pills into her hand. Dropping them into her mouth and swallowing, she stated graciously, "Thank you, Madoka."

"Of course," The pinkette nodded to both of them as well. She choked, "I… Just wish we had an ice pack for you, Homura… To numb the pain a little…"

"You're too kind," The magical girl sighed and shook her head, "But you cannot worry about that; that is out of our control. All we can do is work with the supplies we have. And, Madoka..." She stared at the survivor pinkette and chuckled somberly, "There is no need to fret about me. We've made this far, haven't we?"

"Yes…" Madoka swallowed and sniffed as she nodded affirmatively, "I suppose you're right…"

Then, the blue-haired man, Tomoya, walked over and asked, motioning with his head towards the comatose Madoka, "So, what are we going about the body?"

With his hands still working, Tomohisa glanced up at him and returned with question, "What exactly can we do with her?"

Tomoya shrugged, "We could use it to lure away the Walkers."

"No," Tomohisa dismissed immediately and plainly as he shook his head and frowned, "Just opening the door would endanger the group too much. Plus…" he glanced at the pinkette's corpse and his stomach churned, "I have a feeling that, through some sort of Magic we regular humans wouldn't understand, that this girl really is Madoka, in a way."

The man standing furrowed his brow, "How can you tell?"

"I don't know," The father turned his attention back to Homura's forehead, yet his eyes weren't looking at it at all. Rather, it was as if he were reflectively looking inside himself, "A father knows his daughter, I guess. I already have nightmares about Walkers eating Madoka. I don't know if my heart could take knowing that I caused something like that to happen, even if it was a completely different version of her."

"I suppose I understand," Tomoya sighed and stared at the self-proclaimed Goddess, "If Ushio were still alive, I'd know who she was no matter what."

Tomohisa raised an eyebrow and asked, "Your daughter's name was Ushio?"

"Yeah…" Tomoya's eyes dimmed, memories clearly resurfacing in his face, "Yeah, it was…"

Mr. Kaname threw his attention back to bandaging Homura's wound and apologized somberly, "...I'm sorry. I know what it's like to lose a child..."

"It's fine..." The blue-haired man shook his head. He nodded towards the other Homura, still cowering in the same place against the wall, "I guess she's staying with us for now as well? Restraints obviously didn't work, meaning there's some truth to them being Magical."

Tomohisa shrugged as he finished tightening the gauze around Homura's skull, "Like I said, we can't open the door. All we can do is keep a close eye on the new Homura, and try to stop her from trying something like her Madoka did again."

"Indeed," Homura nodded. She stated as she stared at her clone, "I also wish to ask my doppleganger some questions, probably more than any of us."

"Well," Tomoya sighed again, "You guys are the bosses, I guess."

Grunting as he stood to his feet, Tomohisa turned his attention to the rest of the survivors, who anxiously exchanged glances between each other, the Kanames, the other Homura, and the body of the mirror Madoka. He stated, "I think we might need some crowd control after what just happened. Can I get you to work on that? I'm gonna see if Madoka and I can get Homura on her feet."

"Gotcha," the blue-haired man affirmed, then briskly walked to the anxious group gathered at the northern end of the cabin.

Then, Mr. Kaname nodded to Madoka. With him on Homura's left and the pinkette on her right, they both knelt down and wrapped each of her arms around their shoulders. Tomohisa asked the raven-haired girl, "Are you ready?"

Taking a deep breath, Homura nodded, "Yes."

With a heave, the Kanames brought the girl to her feet. The father and daughter carefully slid away from Homura a few steps to try to let her walk on her own. With wobbly legs, Homura could only take one shaky step before stumbling over her own feet and collapsing. Before even hitting the ground, the Kanames quickly grabbed her and supported her on their shoulders again as they helped her start limping across the room.

Homura breathed and grimaced slightly, "...Thank you."

"Mm-hm," Madoka nodded, then worriedly asked, "Are you okay? Does it hurt?"

"Of course it hurts, she pistol-whipped my foreheadl," the raven-haired girl stated plainly as they passed the unconscious Madoka's body. Seeing the pinkette grimace at her calloused reply, her features softened and she sighed, "Do not worry about me; I'm just a little dizzy. I'm a Magical Girl, so I should be able to walk on my own again with no issues in just a few hours."

"O-Oh…" Madoka smiled gently, "G-Good..."

"Until then, we need to be careful," Tomohisa grimly stated as he pushed up his glasses, "After that little stumble, I'm convinced that you have a concussion. You girls mentioned that Magical Girls have different kinds of advanced healing, righ-"

They were interrupted by violent coughing from behind them. The three turned completely to see the other Madoka now sitting up and rubbing her neck.

The survivor pinkette's eyes widened as she gasped, "B-But… H-How...?"

She glanced at Homura and her father, but neither replied. The other girl simply dropped her head and let shadows fall over her eyes, and her father simply stared at the other Madoka grimly.

"MISTRESS!" The demon exclaimed from across the room and immediately dashed to the victim's side.

Clearing her throat, the Goddess blinked in shock, scowled and proclaimed, "Ow, that hurt..."

She turned her glare to the survivor Madoka and her eye twitched, tears threatening to break out, "Ow. That. Hurt."

The demon Homura's eyes grew wide as she pleaded, shooting a worried gaze between her and the survivors, "N-No, Mistress! P-Please, n-not here…!"

The survivor Homura raised her own anxious attention from the floor to the sitting pinkette and mumbled nervously, "...I have a bad feeling about this."

The survivor Madoka furrowed her brow, turned to her friend and asked, "About what, Homura-"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" The Goddess let out a bone-chilling shriek and slammed her fists on the ground beside her.

All the survivors grimaced, covered their ears and recoiled, with Kyoko being the first to curse, "Son of a…!"

"NOT FAIR! NOT FAIR! NOT FAAIIIIRRRRR!" The Goddess screamed shrilly and kicked violently, "I WANT HOMURA! I WANT HOMURA!"

Grasping her forehead, the survivor Homura grimaced and pleaded, "Someone stop her…! It's like knives piercing my skull…!"

Sayaka was the first to hear the undead outside hungrily growl and bang even louder. Grimacing from the pinkette undoubtedly breaking the sound barrier with her wailing, the blunette turned to Tomohisa stated anxiously as loud as she could over the girl's tantrum, "Mr. K, she's attracting more Walkers…!"

Now on her stomach, the other Madoka banged the floor repeatedly and cried, "NO! NO! NO! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOOOUUUU~! HOMURA-CHAN IS MINE! MINE, MINE, MINE!"

Tomohisa gasped as he worriedly glanced at the door under attack, "...We have to stop her! If we don't, the Walkers will just keep coming!"

Kyosuke worriedly added, "If a herd hears her, we could be trapped here for weeks…!"

Mami nervously gulped, "We hardly survived in the Mikis' cellar the last time we were stranded…"

The other Homura backed away from the screaming, thrashing Goddess slowly and glanced back at him. She shook her head and gulped, "Y-You can't. When my Mistress gets like this, there's nothing in this world that can stop her. The only thing we can do is wait until she exhausts herself, and that could take hours..."

"Yeah, and bring the entire Walker herd on this place like back in the cellar? Like hell that's happening again," Kyoko scowled. She glanced at Stephen and asked, "Hey, Stephen, you're big and intimidating. Why don'tcha rough her up with some of your Soldier stuff?"

The negro Marine nodded, "Alright, I'll handle it."

With that, the survivors watched the burly soldier flex his meaty fingers as he slowly stepped across the room towards the screaming girl.

Completely oblivious, the tantruming Madoka didn't notice the large soldier now towering over her as she continued her non-stop shrieking, "I ALWAYS GET WHAT I WANT! I AM A GODDESS AND YOU WILL OBEY ME-" Stephen effortlessly snatched her up by the collar of her flannel shirt and lifted her off of the ground, causing her to squeal, "EEK!"

She tried kick and flail to break his grip, but he wrapped his left arm around her throat and choked her with his upper arm. She tried to let out another squeal and squirm out of his grasp, but the Marine removed his right hand from her collar and pushed down on the back of her skalp. His left hand grabbed his right wrist, effectively locking the tantruming Madoka's head in a choke hold.

Madoka desperately flailed and scratched at his arm. She tried to let out another yell, but a quick squeeze from the man's bicep choked it out.

Stephen tried to reason with her calmly, "Please, little girl; calm down! You're putting us all in a lot of danger with your screaming."

"LET… ME… GO…!" The pinkette partly-hissed, partly-cried, and partly-choked.

"Looks like we're doing this the hard way, huh?" The Marine sighed, "I never really liked the Drill Sergeants back in Basic, but they did whip us into shape. Looks like I'm going to have to take a page from First Lieutenant Freeman's book."

Madoka wheezed and forced, "I… AM… A… GOD… DES-"

"SI-LENCE!" Stephen shouted authoritatively, catching everyone, including the struggling pinkette, off-guard, with the only audible sound being that of the hungry Walkers' moaning.

Stunned at the man's booming voice, Madoka scowled and hissed, "HOW DARE… YOU YELL... AT M-"

"I don't RECALL asking asking you to speak, girl! We ain't kissing, so I DON'T need your lip!" Stephen barked, shocking everyone at the sudden personality change, "YOU are NOT to speak unless spoken to, and when addressed you are to respond with 'Yes sir!' or 'Yes ma'am!' DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR, GIRL?!"

Madoka blinked and froze, refusing to comprehend what was happening to her.

"AM I CLEAR?" The Marine repeated.

Madoka simply began indignantly chuckling, "Hehehe… To think… Such a… Lowly being… Like you… Would order ME… With such bravado…! It's… completely… Laughable!"

"Well, aren't you just a class clown!" The Soldier mocked, "But Chuckles-and correct me if I'm hearing this wrong-aren't you some sort of divine Goddess? Because, from where I stand, ya ain't looking so powerful."

Instead of retorting, Madoka scowled and glanced at her Homura, "Homura-chan… Why are you… Taking… So long… To help… Me?! Show him… What we… Are capable of…!"

"Yes ma'am!" The demon gulped and started briskly walking to her aid.

The survivor Madoka glared at her and growled, "You will not. Stephen didn't request for you to move, did he?"

Homura gasped, stopped in her tracks and shot her gaze to the floor, "No ma'am…"

Stephen smiled at the survivor pinkette, "Thanks, Ms. Madoka."

She nodded, "Mm-hm."

The other Madoka just glared at the raven-haired girl in disgust. She mumbled irritably, "Why… did I have… to train her… so well…?"

"What was that about 'powers' now?" The Marine taunted as the girl pursed her lips in silence. He barked at her again, "You WILL comply with our rules, you WILL NOT cause us trouble and you WILL answer any questions we have. Understood, girl?"

The pinkette huffed, finally giving up the ghost, "What… ever…"

"UNDERSTOOD?" He shouted.

"Yes, sir…" Madoka begrudgingly acknowledged.

Stephen smiled and dropped the girl, the latter landing on her rear with a thud.

Rubbing her backside, Madoka stuck her lip out in a pout and moaned, "Ow…"

The Marine glanced at Tomohisa and nodded with grin, "She's all yours, Mr. Tomohisa."

Mr. Kaname returned the nod affirmatively, then turned to his daughter and cocked his head towards the wounded Homura, "Can you support her by yourself? I wanna ask the other you some things," he anxiously glanced at the door being assaulted by Cadavers, "We've already agitated the Walkers quite a bit, and I don't want to make it worse by shouting across the room."

"Sure, okay," Madoka nodded in agreement.

He smiled and carefully helped Homura balance herself against the pinkette's supporting shoulder, with the brunette grabbing Madoka's cast with her right hand to steady herself. Then, he turned his attention to the pouting Madoka, now with her arms crossed and being attended to by the other Homura.

His stomach churned as he started walking towards them. Pushing up his glasses, he grimaced and recoiled, absolutely appalled at the sight, _This just can't be right. I raised my daughter to behave better than this… I assume her version of me would've done the same..._

As he approached the two, he knelt down and stared into the Goddess pinkette's irritated eyes, "I have so many questions. If you really are some version of my daughter, please; as your father, help me to understand."

Madoka rolled her eyes and huffed, "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"I guess…" He blinked, mulling over which question would be best to ask first, "For starters, I suppose we should address the elephant in the room. You mentioned that you were from the future. I'm still new to the whole idea of 'Magic' so I suppose it's possible, but if this is true… how?"

"Homura's Time Manipulation," Madoka shrugged and stated plainly.

"What?" Tomohisa gasped. His voice trailed as he glanced at the survivor Homura, staring curiously at the dopplegangers, "Time manip…-"

"Woah, hold on, wait a minute; she hasn't told you?" The Goddess' expression immediately changed from irritation to complete amusement. She exclaimed for all the survivors to hear with a giggle, "Homura-chan is a Time Traveler!"

The demon Homura added with a slight chuckle, "And I can attest to the fact that this is not her first 'rodeo', as it were."

Then, all the survivors stared silently at the wounded Homura, who avoided their eyes by dropping her own shadow-covered gaze to the ground.

The survivor Madoka's face twisted in untrusting uneasiness. Everyone could see the conflicting emotions in the pinkette's expression as she inquired of the girl she supported on her shoulder, "I-Is… Is this true, Homura?"

"I had so hoped that I could have kept this a secret, especially with all that has happened..." Homura muttered. She lift her gaze to her smugly smirking doppelganger and berated herself, "But of all the things… How could I have known…?"

"So…" Kyoko spoke up, her face displaying very clear agitation. She indignantly pointed at the door still being assaulted by Walkers and seethed, "If controlling time really is that funky ability of yours, how come ya ain't gone back to stop this hell we have for ourselves?"

Tomohisa gasped and reached for the red-head, trying to deter the ensuing interrogation, "Kyoko, please…!"

The other Madoka smirked excitedly as she and her Homura now sat cross-legged, both watching the scene with amusement,"This is where the fun begins!" She turned to her girlfriend and commanded, "Homura-chan, the popcorn."

The demon gulped, "B-But Mistress… I didn't…"

Before the Goddess could think of a cruel and unusual punishment for not bringing popcorn, the survivor Homura retaliated against the red-head, "And what makes you think I haven't been trying, Kyoko?! Besides," she dropped her gaze to the ground and mumbled, "It's not nearly that simple…"

"Oh?" Mami crossed her arms and shot her a scrutinizing glare, "Then, how about you try explaining, rather than hiding another important secret from us?"

Homura took a deep breath, then proceeded to do exactly that, "...The doomed timelines-the ones that I leave behind-they still exist and keep going. But they have no bearing on the one I currently am living. All I can do…" she paused, then continued with a shroud of melancholy, "All I can do is merely start over from a fixed point in time, and do everything I can to change the fate of the current timeline."

"So…" Kyosuke hesitantly asked from his wheelchair, "How many times _HAVE_ gone back, Miss Akemi?"

Answering for her, the demon Homura pointed her index finger upwards and stated plainly, "By this point? Eighty-three."

The survivor shot her a glare, then sighed as she pushed up her glasses, "...She's right. This is my eighty-third attempt at avoiding the worst possible outcome."

The survivors gasped again and gaped at her revelation. None of them were prepared for a number that great.

"Avoiding the worst outcome, huh? That worked out REAL well…" Sayaka clenched her fists and stared at the ground. She stepped directly in front of the brunette, growled and glared viciously at her, "We're just another number to you, aren't we? You don't care about us; you can't fool me. I can see the deadness in your eyes. We're just the ones from Attempt Eighty-Three. If you screw up here, you'll move on to attempt eighty-four, and then we're one of those timelines that 'has no bearing on the one you're currently living'. Isn't that right?"

Homura didn't respond as she grimaced and stared at the ground to avoid the blunette's eyes.

The silence was all Sayaka needed for the frustration to fester in her expression as she turned away and muttered bitterly, "Yeah… That's what I thought…"

"It's not like that…" Homura mumbled.

"Oh?" The blunette paused and turned back to her. With a scowl, she challenged, "Yeah? Then what is it like?"

"There are certain…" the raven-haired girl paused and pushed up her glasses again , trying to decide how to best word what she wanted to convey, "...Requirements that must come to pass before I decide I want to start over."

"What…" Madoka choked, nearly on the edge of tears, "What kinds of requirements?"

Homura paused before answering solemnly, "...You must die."

The pinkette gasped in horror.

The brunette adjusted her glasses, then stated loudly for all to hear, "Indeed, all is lost only when everyone is dead. As this is not the case and you all still stand and breathe, I assure you, I will do all within my power to make sure we can live, even in this rotten, undead world. Being alive is all that matters…" she paused and gently smiled at the pinkette, "...You as my family are all that matters."

"O-Okay…" Madoka stuttered, before throwing on a small smile herself and wiping the tears out the edges of her eyes, "...I trust you. After you saved Sayaka and my Dad… After seeing how you've helped us through so much... I really do want to believe that you wouldn't just leave…"

"Never," Homura shook her head and assured, "Not as long as you still draw breath."

"I'm not sure I can really trust that," Mami furrowed her brow and glowered, "You say our deaths are what triggers your decision to start the time loop anew, yet with how aloof you appeared at the beginning of the apocalypse makes it very hard to believe that we could even be considered allies."

Homura tried to retaliate, "You know nothing abou-"

"Mami, stop it," Tomohisa chastised before brunette could retort. Giving the Time Traveler a gentle yet somber expression, he stated with an air of melancholy, "The things we've done in our past lives, the things we were... Those don't matter anymore. For better or for worse, those lives are dead now. They're gone. The Walkers have made that fact all too real.

"Homura is a member of our group…" he paused, sighed, and pushed up his glasses, "More importantly, she's a member of our family. With the threat of both the Walkers and Witches, we need everyone to be able to trust one another fully," he smiled at her, "Of which, I do without hesitation."

Homura paused, before returning with a small, gracious smile of her own, "...Thank you, Mr. Kaname."

"And now this is making me sick," the other Madoka mocked with a scowl on her face, "Can we move on now?"

Stephen frowned disapprovingly at her and crossed his arms, "Have you no sympathy, girl?"

The Goddess gasped slightly, grabbed her arm and glanced away, "Well, I mean… Um…"

"Not yet," Tomohisa shook his head and turned his attention back to her, "Regardless of the state of your compassion, I'm still not quite done with my time travel questions. It's just one more, but, now that I can believe that you are really from the future…" he paused, gulped, and anxiously asked, "Do we… Do we make it?"

"We're from Timeline 102-initially Timeline 100-so probably not," Madoka shrugged as she stated plainly without hesitation or sympathy.

The survivors fell silent again. After the time traveler's explanation, all they could do was reflect on the hopelessness of their situation as they emotionlessly listened to the hungry growls of the Walkers scratching on the doors.

"...Impossible," the survivor Homura muttered.

"What?" The Goddess Madoka frowned, "What do mean 'impossible'? It happened! We're here because it happened!" She then turned to her demon and growled, "By the way, since your past self is being so indignant, I'm going to make you balance on a fork and sing 'Stairway to Heaven' when we get back home."

"B-But…!" That Homura stuttered and whined, "That song is ten minutes long!"

The pinkette harrumphed and crossed her arms, "And you can thank the past you for that."

"B-But…" The demon stammered on the verge of tears.

The survivor Homura retorted with a hiss, "And I refuse to believe that I will become a snivelling coward. I've been through far too much to change what I have; I can change you as well. My whole mission hinges on the need to change everything. My hope that the current timeline will be the last remains the same every time I start over. If my hope is not misplaced, you will cease to be."

"Well, you're gonna be disappointed…" The Goddess snickered under her breath, inaudible to the survivor.

"However, this does not change the fact that I still have questions that need answers here and now," the Magical Girl continued. She shifted her supported weight to stare at the demon Homura, "How have you returned to this timeline? By the method in which I have been repeating, having the future and present versions of both myself and Madoka in the same time loop should be impossible."

"It was the aftermath of Timeline 100 and the Rebellion incident, mainly," the demon casually replied.

The survivor scowled, "And what makes you think that this holds any meaning to me?"

"Well…" the demon started as she flicked her diamond-shaped earring. She turned to her Madoka and asked, "Mistress, will you do the honors? I know how much you love to retell this story."

"Of course," the pinkette grinned, "In fact, I'm glad you asked, because if you didn't, I was going to make you eat one hundred raw oysters in under an hour while tap dancing to 'The Final Countdown'."

As the demon grimaced at the very idea, the survivor Madoka furrowed her brow and asked, "W-What story?"

With a smirk and a chuckled, the Goddess stood up and exclaimed, "Everyone, gather around! It's Story Time!"

(skip)

"...And that's how Homura brought me back and recreated our new world!" Madoka clapped her hands together gleefully, just finishing her retelling of the events of the end Timeline 100 and the Rebellion incident over the course of the past two hours.

With all sitting in a circle in the candlelit cabin around the storyteller, the survivors had been staring in shock since the thirty minute mark, the only sounds being the hungry growls of the Undead resonating outside (which, to their relief, had stopped scratching at the door shortly after the story drew past an hour long).

Homura was the first to speak up, "...Is that it?

"Pretty much," the Goddess scratched her chin thoughtfully, "Of course there was this one thing we call the Manatee Incident where you threw Sayaka's Soul Gem into the Manatee exhibit in the aquarium."

The blunette in question glared at the survivor Homura from across the circle and hissed, "Dude!"

Homura shook her head in denial, "I did no such thing," she furrowed her brow and rubbed her own chin, "I can't even imagine why I would do something of that sort. It doesn't seem very practical or logical…"

"Because the mongrel Miki's magic has a water motif," the demon pointed out, "and she kept getting in the way of my time with my dear Madoka."

"Yeah, because that's not creepy at all," the blue-pigtailed girl, Mio Naganohara, stated sarcastically as she pulled out a pen and notepad and started doodling.

"So wait," the caramel-haired student, Aioi Yuuko asked, her expression clearly showing her confusion by the whole ordeal, "If you're from the future…" she pointed to the survivor Madoka and Homura, "and you're from the past… but you're in the in the same place…" She gasped and and shot her arms over her face as she shrieked, "IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD! WE'RE ALL GONNA EXPLODE!"

"Hey Yuuko, calm your toenails," Kyoko hissed. She continued with a scowl, "If ya ain't noticed, the apocalypse already happened; the world already ended before these two chuckle-heads showed up. The Walkers made plenty sure of that."

Yuuko stopped shouting and stated plainly, uncovering her face slightly, "Nah, I mean in a black hole or something. Like a Time Paradox."

The Goddess Madoka waved off the question nonchalantly and answered, "Oh, don't worry; We just twisted the Time Stream a little bit. Once Homura-chan and I go back home, it'll fix itself and you guys won't remember any of this," she giggled, "Plus, it wouldn't be the first time we've dealt with Time Space Paradoxes."

Homura chuckled as she flicked her diamond earring, "It would be the Third, if I'm not mistaken."

The survivors fell silent once again.

"...Why?" the survivor Madoka spoke up.

The other pinkette furrowed her brow and cocked her head, "...Why what?"

The survivor choked as she struggled to get the words out. She solemnly asked, "Why would you come back? Of all the timelines you could've returned to, why did you pick this… this…"

Shadows covered the survivor Homura's eyes as she finished for her, "...This hell."

The Goddess shrugged, "No reason in particular; just wanted a little bit of excitement. Why?" She tilted her head and furrowed her brow at the survivor Homura, "Is this because the whole 'zombie' thing that's going on?"

Homura didn't speak, but everyone could see the storming fury churning in her expression that she was trying so hard to hold back.

Instead, Mami stated for her, the scowl on her face and her tapping foot showing that her patience was clearly wearing thin, "I suppose… We're just bothered by the fact that you appear to be treating this as just a game. It's not game for us, Ms. Kaname. This is it for us. This is all we have. For all of us-except Homura I suppose, this... " she paused as her eyes dimmed. She took a deep breath, grabbed one of her hair's blonde drill-tails, and turned away as she sighed somberly, "...This is the life that we are given."

"...And you don't even care!" The survivor Madoka cried in an outburst. No one had previously noticed the tears now falling down her face.

The Goddess furrowed her brow, "Now what's your deal?" She stuck her lip out in a pout and crossed her arms, "I just wanted to have some fun…"

"'My deal'..." Madoka sniffed as she tried to wipe her tears away with her cast, to no avail. She choked as she stared at her mirror, "I j-just can't b-believe that you are m-my future… That you're who I b-become. The w-way you treat the people c-closest to you... Someone who is just so c-cruel and t-twisted… it just c-can't be me! I c-can't… I WON'T believe it! I-It's like you d-don't even remember us! It's like you don't even r-recall what we've b-been through!"

"That would be, simply," the demon Homura shrugged and replied callously, "because we kind of don't."

The survivor Homura shot her a heated, vicious glare, seething through clenched teeth, "...What do you mean, 'You do not remember'?"

"Just that," Madoka stated plainly, "The only reason we're here is because I told Homura-chan to pick a timeline that she didn't recall too well."

The demon nodded and reached into the pocket of her jeans, "I even have the list of timelines Mistress commanded me to create to do so."

Shadows covered the survivor brunette's eyes as she ordered darkly, "Show me."

Grunting as she pulled a piece of scrap paper out her pocket, the other Homura stated as she held out her list to the survivor, "Here," with a roll of her eyes, she muttered, "You don't need to be so pushy."

The survivor Homura scowled at her, "...Really?"

The demon blinked obliviously, still holding the list out to her, "Really what?"

The survivor sighed and shook her head irritably. She turned to Madoka sitting beside her and asked, "Do you mind helping me over to her? I'm still a bit dizzy…"

"O-Of course," the pinkette sniffed and nodded.

With various grunting from the two, Madoka assisted Homura to her feet. With the brunette holding her friend's cast to balance herself as before, the two carefully limped to the center of the circle where the demon waited patiently.

"Can you grab the list, Madoka?" Homura asked, "I've not yet regained balance…"

"O-Okay," the pinkette nodded, then received the scrap paper the Demon offered to them. Holding it in between her thumb and finger, Madoka furrowed her brow at the illegible scribblings she saw. She muttered and sniffed again, "H-Homura, I d-don't understand... What a-are we l-looking at?"

On the other girl's face was a whole different expression entirely. Shadows tried to hide it, but all the survivors clearly saw the hurt expression in her eyes. The survivor Homura stated, her voice laced with subtle resentment, "Timeline 11: Walpurgisnacht destroys the city, I alone am spared."

"...What?" The demon furrowed her brow in shock.

The survivor Madoka tried to ask, "Homura, is this…?"

The survivor continued, "Timeline 28: Madoka is bullied, she gets pushed down a flight of stairs and breaks her neck. She perishes on impact."

This caused Tomohisa to glare and throw in a "What?"

The pinkette gasped, "H-Homura…!"

The Goddess pinkette glanced at her Homura and chuckled, "Well, this is interesting."

"Timeline 45: Madoka's Soul Gem becomes tainted and breaks. The city is destroyed soon after.

"Timeline 57: We made enemies somewhere in places unknown. Probably the Yakuza. Our drink were poisoned. Those of us who had not contracted with Kyubey yet-namely Madoka and Sayaka-succumbed to a slow and painful death."

"That's…" shadows-which seemed to be in abundance in the candlelit cabin-enveloped Sayaka's eyes as well as she sputtered, "That's horrible…"

Exasperation slightly breaking in her voice, Homura ignored the blunette and continued to list the scenarios, "Timeline 66: Madoka is the victim of a hit-and-run. She survived for a little while, even being shipped to a hospital out of Mitakihara for the duration of the loop. But I had gotten word that her situation had worsened and she had slipped into a comatose state, one that she would not wake up from."

The rest of the survivors couldn't bear to watch the brunette recall such horrid things, Madoka herself beginning to cry again. The pinkette choked, "H-Homura… P-Please… Stop…"

Homura raised both her voice and a vicious glare at her demon counterpart, "TIMELINE 83…!" she took a deep breath to calm herself, "Timeline 83... The Undead have risen and devoured the entirety of earth's population. There are only small pockets of humanity left," she paused, then stated solemnly, "...We're all that's left."

The demon furrowed her her brow and played with her earring, as if not understanding what her past self was trying to say, "...Oooo...kay…?"

The Goddess pinkette crossed her arms and tilted her head, "Yeah, not really sure I understand the point you're getting at either."

The survivor brunette clenched her teeth and hissed, "The POINT I'm GETTING at, is that-"

"Stop," Tomohisa ordered emotionlessly. Pushing up his glasses, he continued in a monotone voice, "This isn't getting us anywhere and the Walkers will hear us. I'm putting out the candles. Tomorrow, we pack up and start heading to that settlement Izumi told us about. Understood?"

The survivor Homura wanted to retort, but she could see that the mixture of her retelling of her past and the Goddess and Demon's nonchalance about it had broken him. She just sighed and nodded, her expression returned to it's stone cold default as she stared at their dopplegangers, "Yes, sir."


	4. Night of Solace

**_Author's Note from ENG: Okay, so, this is where I start spoiling things from my story "When Humanity Dies". If you haven't read it yet, I would recommend reading to at least the third chapter of it, so the spoilery things are seen as they're meant to be. And that's all I gotta say. Knock yourselves out._**

* * *

The Goddess and Demon watched curiously as the survivors slowly moved about, setting up sleeping bags, checking the barricade, and blowing out candles so they could safely sleep for the night. Although, amusing as it was to watch them scurry around like the vermin they were, a familiar, unpleasant feeling hit Madoka's chest. With both time-travelers sitting next to each other on the sleeping bags that the survivors let them borrow, the pinkette scowled, turned to her Homura, and stated childishly, "Homura-chan, I'm bored."

The demon gasped slightly and offered immediately, "Mistress, what might you have me do to alleviate you of this plague?"

Madoka glowered and clicked her tongue, "Tch! I don't know! YOU were the one who was supposed to plan for this sort of thing," she crossed her arms and pouted, "This terrible trip was all your dumb idea anyway…"

"B-But Mistress! You came to me and said-"

"Oh, the little 'goddess' is bored, huh?" The sound of the survivor Madoka's venom-laced voice caused the demon to squeal and flinch. The pinkette walked over to them with her arms crossed. Clenching the fingers of her right hand around her left upper arm, she gazed around at her friends and father lying down in their sleeping bags-starting a tight circle of survivors around the center of the room-and muttered bitterly, "If only we could all be so lucky…"

"Oh," the Goddess Madoka scowled, "It's you."

"Yeah," the survivor pinkette stated plainly as she sat on the sleeping bag next to her mirror, wrapping her arms wound her knees, "me."

The former rolled her eyes and huffed, "Of course I of all people would want to sit next to me…" she paused and furrowed her brow, "...which actually makes perfect sense, ironically," she added with a chuckle, "Who else loves me more then me?"

"I do, Mistress!" Homura quickly interjected, "My love for you is greater than the number the stars in the sky!"

The Goddess chastised her, "Keep quiet, Homura-chan. Your Mistress is trying to have a conversation."

"Yes, ma'am…" the demon immediately shrank back down into herself.

The survivor slowly shook her head in disbelief and muttered, "Just foolish…"

The former Madoka glared at the latter and irritably exclaimed, "Okay, just what the crap is wrong with you, me? Homura-chan and I were just looking for a good time. We came to you peacefully! But ever since we got here, we've met only with your rudeness, cruelty and violence! And not the fun kind!"

"Because the way you're acting is going to get someone killed!" the survivor fired back fiercely. Taking a deep breath, she calmed her tone and added, "However, despite how much I want to deny that you're the person I'm becoming as you claimed, you're right. What we did to you and your Homura was wrong, and I'm sorry," Madoka shifted her gaze to her leather cast and began fiddling with the contraption, "That's why I chose this sleeping bag in the first place, so I could say that…"

The Goddess Madoka's irritated frown quickly changed into a an intrigued smile, "Oh-ho-ho, an apology, huh?" She smiled arrogantly and stated, "About time. With what you all did to me, someone should've said something sooner."

The survivor sighed, never taking her eyes off of her cast mechanism, "Sure, whatever."

Once the survivor's apology finally stopped stroking the Goddess' ego, the latter eventually noticed the former's hand-or the lack thereof, more accurately. She tilted her head, pointed at her wrist stub and blinked, "...What happened to our hand?"

Slowing her fiddling with her cast, the survivor Madoka's eyes dimmed as she hesitantly answered, "I… I got bit…"

"Bit?" The Goddess raised an amused smile. She turned and glanced pervertedly at her Homura, "Oh Homura-chan~, that gives me all sorts of fun ideas."

The demon quickly nodded, "Yes Mistress, whatever you desire."

"...Fun?" The survivor's expression filled with a mixture of disgust and anguish, tears threatening to break from her eyes as she choked, "THAT'S your idea of FUN? Tatsuya got bit, died and Turned IN MY ARMS, then bit me! My dad and I had to shoot him IN THE FACE so he couldn't bite anyone else! I had to become a Magical Girl and use my wish so I wouldn't Turn either! You think that's FUN?!"

"...Wait, you did what to Tatsuya?" The Goddess blinked, genuinely shocked and caught off guard by what she just heard, "I mean, the little brat's annoying as all-get-out, but…"

Taking a deep, heavy breath, the survivor Madoka paused, then rested her chin on her knees again and stated emotionlessly, "...You heard me. We killed him."

The Goddess and Demon exchanged unsure glances before the former and stated awkwardly, "WELL, ok-ayy… um… that's a real… uh…" covering her mouth, Madoka cleared her throat and started looking around, trying to change the subject, "So, uh, hey, where's our mom? She was always the smart one in our family other than me. Naturally, she'd be leading this shindig, I would assume."

Clenching her legs tightly, the survivor Madoka's lip began to quiver as she whimpered. She sniffled as tears broke from her eyes and dripped down her cheeks.

"Well?" The Goddess furrowed her brow, obliviously waiting for the survivor to answer. As the latter Madoka just kept sniveling, the former Madoka crossed her arms and scowled, "Well, come on now! I don't like being kept waiting."

"U-Um, M-Mistress," Homura hesitantly tried to re-enter the conversation.

The Goddess rolled her eyes irritatedly and growled in exasperation, "WHAT, HOMURA-CHAN? Are you TRYING to get yourself punished at this point?"

Homura's eye's grew wide as she gasped, "N-No, Mistress! I just thought I understood why the Other Mistress won't answer…"

The Goddess narrowed her eyes, "...Very well. Speak. And it better be good, or I'll make you dance en pointe in clogs."

"Yes, Mistress! Oh, how merciful you are for giving me this chance!" The demon nodded vigorously. She then explained plainly, "I believe the reason that the Other Mistress doesn't wish to talk about about your mother is because Junko…" she covered her mouth and cleared her throat, "...Turned, as it were."

At the mention of her mother, the survivor Madoka shot her hand to her own mouth and broke into a heavy sob.

"...'Turned'?" Confused, the Goddess Madoka tilted her head and asked, "You all keep using that term, but I don't get it."

"She became a Walker," the survivor Homura stated dryly as she walked over and sat in the open sleeping bag between Madoka and Sayaka. Taking off her glasses and setting them behind the head of sleeping bag, she scowled at her and sternly warned, "and I would strongly advise that you drop this line of conversation immediately."

Ignoring her request as she normally did, the Goddess Madoka continued to ask questions (all the while, trying to hide the heated rage building within her, knowing Homura had given HER a command), "...Walker? What, you mean the zombies?" She scoffed callously, "Heh, what a stupid name for them! Why not just call them 'zombies' like normal people?"

"Madoka," Mami chastised shortly from her sleeping bag across the circle in between the schoolgirls, Mio and Yuuko, "Cut it out. This isn't just some joke. This nightmare is real for us, so we'd very much appreciate it if you did not make light of it."

"Oh, come one! You too, Mami?" the Goddess asked. She then rolled her eyes and scowled, "Okay, this was fun for a little bit and the guys in the zombie costumes were pretty cool, but the whole 'the world has been destroyed by the Undead' act getting old. What's really going on here?"

"That IS what's going on here!" The survivor Homura hissed angrily, trying to console the weeping pinkette. She added venomously, "If you had not so foolishly forgotten your past, you would know how frighteningly real this hell truly is," she then grimaced and shot her hand to her bandaged head, recoiling from her headaches that remained consistent since being pistol-whipped.

"Back to that?" Madoka scowled. She crossed her arms and huffed, "Listen, I don't get why you're so hung up on that! We don't remember it! Big whoop! Clearly, it couldn't have been THAT important if we can't-"

"Enough," Tomohisa emotionlessly ordered, none of the girls realizing the man had walked over and now stood above them. Kneeling in front of them, he stated, "Homura, we know what we've lived through. We know what we've lost. There's no point in arguing about it. All we can do is look out for each other and survive. So, just drop the whole memory thing, okay?"

Taking a deep breath, the raven-haired Magical Girl sighed, "Yes sir; understood."

Tomohisa then adjusting his glasses and placed his hand on his Madoka's shoulder, "I know it's hard, sweetie, but just try not to think about it. Mama would want us to keep going. She wouldn't want us worrying about things that have already been done."

The pinkette just whimpered and nodded.

The father returned the nod and added as he stood up, walked back to his sleeping bag and sat down, "If the other Madoka says anything else, just ignore her, alright?"

The Goddess Madoka scowled and pouted at the his statement.

After a few minutes of silence-aside from the survivor Madoka still whimpering, the other Madoka furrowed her brow, turned to the survivor Homura and mumbled, "How DARE Dad say something like that about me! I'm always allowed to speak my mind! What's his deal?"

The brunette opened her mouth to retort icily, but then gave it up with a sigh and a shake of her head and began ignoring her like Tomohisa instructed. She turned to her Madoka-who had calmed down slightly-and asked empathetically, "Madoka, are you okay?"

The survivor pinkette sniffed and croaked sorrowfully, "I miss Mama…"

"Understandable," Homura nodded. She paused slightly, "...She would be proud of you, Madoka."

The pinkette sobbed quietly as she slowly nodded. The other pinkette rolled her eyes and gagged.

"She really would be, Madoka," Tomoya agreed from his spot from across the circle. He continued, "I may not have been able to meet the woman myself, but just by looking at you, I know she and your father raised you well. Believe me; I know it's rough losing a family member," he chuckled half-heartedly as he stared into his lap, "Ha, rough… that's an understatement…" he looked back to Madoka and affirmed, "But we help each other out through these tough times. That's just how things work now. We may not be family by blood, but we are family."

Taking a deep breath, Madoka swallowed a sob, "You're right… Thank you, Mr. Okazaki."

The blue-haired man smiled gently and nodded, "Mm-hm," he added, "Y'know, Madoka, I had this lullaby I would always sing to my daughter whenever she was sad, and it always cheered her up. Would you like to hear it?"

Glancing up at him, she slowly nodded, "...Sure, I'd like that."

"Alright," Tomoya replied, "It goes something like this:"

He cleared his throat and started singing with a soothing softness in his voice.

"Dango, Dango, Dango, Dango, Dango,

My Family.

There is a stub-born, roast-ed Dango,

And a gentle, Bean-Jam Dango.

If we could gath-er them to-ge-ther,

We'd have a fam-i-ly..."

Tomoya paused. He hadn't realized it while he was singing, but tears had started falling down his face.

Izumi, who was sitting next to Tomoya, furrowed his brow and ask, "Hey, you alright Tomoya?"

"Y-Yeah, I'll be fine…" the blue haired man quickly shook his head and replied. Wiping his eyes, he cleared his throat and continued singing:

"The baby Dango smiles and

Is al-ways

Cradled in all its parents love.

And the elder Dango sits back

And mus-es ov-er mem'ries.

What if everyone could see

That just by holding hands,

Like the Dango Fam-i-ly,

You will find love?

Now the little Dango town

Is slowly blos-som-ming

In-to the

Bright world I dream of.

Just beyond the star-ry sky,

The rabbits on the moon

Wave and smile down up-on

The world below.

Roll up all the lit-tle things

That make you sad and find

All the things

That make you hap-py."

Despite his face being drenched from his tears, Tomoya finished the lullaby with a smile. He asked, stifling a sob in his throat, "S-So, how was it?"

The survivor Madoka smiled and replied, "It was... good. Thank you again, Mr. Okazaki."

"I'm glad you liked it..." Tomoya looked away and choked, "It was… Ushio's favorite…"

"Well, if ya ask me," the Goddess Madoka was the next to speak with a deadpan tone, "That was the most-"

The survivor Homura quickly cut her off and hissed, "Tomoya just poured his heart out to us; if you say anything negative, I'll rip your tongue from your throat."

The pinkette merely sighed and rolled her eyes.

Just then, the Marine Stephen offered, "Excuse me everyone, I've got something I'd like to add to all this as well," the survivors gave the man their attention. He continued, "Now, what we've all been through is terrible. I mean, we're a bunch of strangers stranded in a one-room cabin surrounded by hungry, human-devouring Walkers, with the only defensive protection measures being a couch and coffee table.

"But, I'm a Christian, and I know that praying and talking to God has been my go-to solution when I feel the whole world is against me. And, trust me, I'm a warfighter; this ain't my first go-around with terror. I've seen things that are so horrific, that they're almost on par with what what we're living now. As such, I was just wondering if you all would like to join me in prayer, asking Him to be with us as we try to survive while we're locked here."

"Um, EXCUSE ME," the Goddess Madoka raised her hand and huffed, "Goddess sitting right here."

As all the survivors ignored her, Tomohisa looked to Stephen and spoke up, "Now, I don't know how many of us are really religious-especially not nowadays-but I'm welcome to any idea that can give us hope. If a God exists, he knows we need some of that right now."

"HELLO?!" The pinkette stated, her face starting to become visibly angry.

The Marine nodded, "Alright then. Now, I invite you all to bow your heads and close your eyes. It's not mandatory, but I know it helps me focus," as the survivors did as the soldier instructed, he then bowed his own head and started praying, "Dear God… You… You know what we're going through, Lord. First, I just want to thank You for allowing us to make it as far as we have, and-"

As Marine continued, the Goddess Madoka crossed her arms, pouted childishly and spat vehemently, "This is just stupid…"

"Shh!" The other Madoka shushed without even lifting her head.

Lowering her voice to a whisper, the Goddess pursed her lips, "Did you just shush me?!"

The survivor shot back quietly, "Yes, now be quiet so we can try this praying thing."

The former Madoka huffed, "If talking to a deity's what you wanted, I'm right here."

The survivor Homura joined the whisper session, keeping her head down as well, "Over what domain could a child like yourself adequately rule with any sort of divinity?"

The demon Homura exclaimed in a hushed tone, "How dare you insult the magnificent power of our Mistress! Are you not aware of our combined power of time and space?"

"YOUR mistress," The raven-haired Magical Girl icily corrected, "has no power worth following."

"EXCUSE ME?!" The Goddess hissed, "I should make you dance around naked on a pile of broken glass for saying that about me!"

"As I said," Homura stated plainly, "you are not worth following. Furthermore, in the Christian mythos, their God is said to have created Time and Space, and exists outside of it. If a deity like that exists, it's much more powerful than a spoiled brat like you. Now, if you please, I would also like to continue pursuing prayer idea of Stephen's, so remain quiet."

With her jaw hanging ajar in shocked rage, the pinkette turned to her Homura and growled lowly.

The demon gasped and gulped, "P-Punishment?"

Madoka glared and slowly nodded, "Mm-hm."

The demon moaned dejectedly.

Then, the Marine caught their attention once again as he finished his prayer, "...And Lord, I just pray that be with us and protect us in the days to come. In Your Name, amen."

It was quiet as everyone opened their eyes. Even the Walkers moaned a bit more quietly. Although no one spoke, the somber air now felt almost serene, and the survivors couldn't quite explain how. They remained silent, reveling in this brief moment of peace in the storm they were living-aside from the 'deities', who just stayed quiet out of spite.

"Okay," Tomohisa was the first to break the silence, "I suppose we should all sleep now; figure out how we'll move on in the morning."

Simple, slow nods were the only answer he received, as everyone acquiesced and lied down on their mats, and attempted to sleep through the night.

* * *

Madoka had been lying awake for hours. With the Walkers incessant, nonstop moaning outside, she had finally had enough. She huffed irritably as she sat up in her sleeping bag, "That's it, I'm done."

She turned to her Homura and shook the brunette awake, "Homura-chan, wake up."

The demon awoke with a frightened squeal and flailing limbs, settling into a defensive position with her arms covering her face. Gasping heavily, she calmed down slightly and stated as she lowered her arms, "O-Oh, Mistress! It's only you."

Standing up, the pinkette quickly commanded, irritation evident in her voice, "Get up, we're going back home."

The brunette quickly shot to her feet and stated, "Yes, ma'am."

"And you're going be punished severely for picking such terrible timeline," the Goddess warned her.

"B-But…!" Homura moaned, "Yes ma'am..."

Then, the survivor's luggage caught the Goddess' eye. She grinned greedily as an idea popped into her head.

"Homura-chan, follow me. I have an idea," She stated as she started stepping over sleeping survivors towards all of their luggage.

As they arrived at the bags, the demon asked, "What would you have me do, Mistress?"

Madoka took the biggest duffle bag-which happened to be her father's that she had rummaged through just a few hours earlier-and dumped the contents out on the floor. Securing the barrel of Tomohisa's Beretta between the back of her hip and her skirt, she ordered, "Go through everyone's bag, take all the guns and put them in here."

"B-But Mistress," Homura gasped, "I already have plenty of firearms back home. I would've gladly given some to you if you had asked. Plus, when the survivors find out we took their greatest means of defense…"

Madoka pouted and explained matter-of-factly, "Because I want my own. And they won't know, because we're leaving this timeline forever. They won't even remember that we were here."

Homura gulped and she helped the pinkette rummage through the survivors' stuff, "...Very well, Mistress. Whatever you wish."

The two sat and stole as many weapons as they find, until the duffle bag was stuffed to the brim. The barrel of a shotgun even jutted out from the top due to the bag's filled capacity.

"Very good," Madoka smirked and stood up. Brushing her hands together, she commanded as she turned and walked towards the door, "Homura-chan, carry the guns."

"Yes, ma'am," the demon nodded quickly. She knelt and slung the bag over her back, grunting as she lifted the heavy pack.

Stopping front of the barricaded door, Madoka sat and waited for multiple minutes before scowling at her demon and clearing her throat deliberately, "AHEM."

"What is it, Mistress?" Homura tilted her head and asked.

"How on earth did you ever get by without me?" Madoka sighed exasperatedly, "Must I explain everything to you? Show some initiative, Homura-chan!"

Realizing what she wanted, the demon gasped, "Yes, Madoka! Right away!"

Homura paused and took a deep breath to focus, and in the next moment, the furniture that served as a barricade flew away from the door, over the survivor circle and crashed on the other side of the room.

"Took you long enough," Madoka deadpanned. Shaking her head, she smirked again and opened the door, "We'll definitely work on that later, but for now, let's get out of this crappy timeline, Homura-chan!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Homura gladly exclaimed as both girls exited the cabin in the moaning, now-rainy night.

The first thing the two noticed was the group of about ten Walkers shambling in front of the shelter, just before the heavy treeline. Madoka exclaimed, "Oh boy! Those Walker guys are still here!" She turned to Homura and grinned, "I wanna check out their awesome makeup!"

The demon gasped as her eyes widened, "M-Mistress, they're not-"

Her warning went unheard, as the Goddess happily skipped towards the closest cadaver. As she approached, the Walker noticed and started hungrily growling as it reached for her.

"MISTRESS!" Homura shouted worriedly, attracting the attention of all the other Walkers.

Madoka ignored her and stood unphased as the Undead continued shuffling closer. Instead, she smiled and asked, "Excuse me, but I just was curious on how you did such awesome makeup? My friend Kyoko's got this punk-rock concert coming up, and that style would be just perfect."

The Walker, as it was indeed a lifeless corpse bent on devouring human flesh, did not know the answer to this inquiry, nor did it answer. It simply grabbed her shoulder and started craning its neck to take a bite out of the pinkette's face.

Madoka furrowed her brow and scowled, "Woah, um, okay dude, you're breaking my personal space, and I don't appreciate-"

Just then, a deafening bang resounded and the Walker's head exploded in rain of crimson gore, most which splattered on the pinkette's face and shirt.

Shocked and eye-twitching, Madoka slowly turned to see Homura aiming the shotgun they had stolen in her direction. She clenched her teeth and growled angrily, "HOMURA-CHAN! You could've hit me!"

Homura furrowed her brow and responded, "But Mistress, I was trying to save you!"

The Goddess paid no heed to her explanation and continued to complain, "AND these clothes are probably ruined-which you WILL pay to replace," she glared at her, "And on top of that, there will be a punishment added to your ever-growing list."

"MADOKA," Homura raised her voice as she dashed to Madoka's side as thunder boomed in the sky, the drizzling rain starting to fall faster and harder.

"WHAT?!" Madoka vehemently screamed back, "And you BETTER have a good reason for raising your voice to me!"

"Mistress," the demon explained worriedly, "these are ACTUAL zombies, who ACTUALLY want to eat our flesh and we need to ACTUALLY leave, RIGHT NOW!"

"...Wait, for real?" The Goddess blinked and glanced around at the nine other Walkers starting to close in on the two. She muttered as her eyes grew wide, struck like the lightning beyond the treeline with the sickening realization, "Oh, you've gotta be-"

Her comment was cut off by two more ear-splitting gunshots, followed by two Undead collapsing, blood pooling at the head on the ground where they were slain.

"They've got our weapons!" they heard the survivor Madoka shout from the cabin's porch, "Stop them, don't let them get away!"

"Son of a-Me of all people...!" the Goddess Madoka growled. She screamed at Homura, "HOMURA-CHAN! We needed to be gone YESTERDAY!"

"YES MA'AM!" The demon yelled and immediately wrapped her arms around the pinkette.

"NO!" The survivor cried out. The deities could hear the survivor breaking into a mad dash towards them.

Luckily, Homura expelled her power and a familiar flash of white light blinded them. However, a sickening feeling hit the demon, different from the usual time travel sickness. She sensed it: another presence latched onto the girls as they traversed across the Time Stream.


	5. Night to Say Goodbye

Madoka twisted in her sleeping bag, the sound of gasping and flailing beside her aroused her slightly from her slumber. She mumbled almost inaudibly, "...Safe Homura. Please sl…" she yawned, "sleep…"

Then, a clanking metal sound from across the cabin room drew the drowsiness out of her.

"...Hmm?" She muttered, sat up, and rubbed her eyes, looking for the origin of the clamorous sounds. Seeing two silhouettes up and shuffling around, the pinkette's heart began to pound, shocking her awake. She turned to Homura and started shaking her, "H-H-Homura!"

"Mmmm… Madoka…?" The brunette moaned and reached for her glasses just behind her pillow. Slipping them over her eyes, Homura tiredly blinked and mumbled, "What's… What's the matter…?"

Madoka stuttered, stifling her voice so as to not attract the undead, "W-Walkers inside…!"

Homura gasped and immediately shot to her feet, pulling her combat knife from her hip. With Madoka now standing as well, a resounding crash on the other side of the room caused the girls to jump out of their skin. The commotion awoke the other survivors, and they all immediately bolted up out of bed.

"...The hell?" Kyoko cursed irritably.

"What on earth was that?" Sayaka asked, shocked and confused.

Homura glanced down at the empty sleeping bags, then to the now-open door. She gasped as her eyes grew wide, "The other usses…!"

A loud bang exploded in the night, causing the survivors to jump. Mami anxiously exclaimed, "They won't last a night out there!"

Without another word, Madoka traded her fearful expression for a grim one as she drew her revolver from her thigh and briskly walked out the door after the dopplegangers. They didn't get far; she could see the two of them arguing in the misty downpour, not seeming to care that nine walkers were slowly starting to surround them. The pinkette aimed, fired twice, and toppled the two closest cadavers.

She gasped when she noticed the other Homura was carrying her father's duffle bag full of their guns, the brunette even brandishing Mami's SPAS-12, "THEY HAVE OUR WEAPONS!" she glanced back to her family and screamed exasperatedly, "Stop them; don't let them get away!"

She heard the other Madoka shout, "HOMURA-CHAN! We needed to be gone YESTERDAY!"

As the other Magical Girls approached the pinkette from behind, Madoka screamed, "NO!"

She took off like lightning in a mad dash to subdue the deities. A nauseous lump dropped into her gut as she saw Homura wrapping her arms around the other Madoka and bright light starting to glow around the two.

 _I'm…_ she breathed heavily and pushed herself harder, ... _I'm not going to make it!_

Just as the light began to blind her, she felt a hand pull her shoulder back, causing her to fall to her rear. She gasped, recoiled, and screamed, fearing the sharp jaws of Walker preparing to bite into her skull. But it never happened. Instead, she heard the ticking of a clock.

Confused and breathing heavily, she opened her eyes and questioned, "...Huh?"

She then realized the darkness of the night glowed an eerie grey-blue. What's more, both the light-explosion from the deities and all the walkers stopped, frozen in place. Heart still pounding, she stared quizzically at the phenomenon, "...B-But-"

"My magic," Homura's voice stated above her. She warned, "Do not break contact with me."

"Homura…?" The pinkette craned her neck to see behind her. Homura, along with a chain of Sayaka's, Mami's, and Kyoko's hands, seemed to be the only ones with their natural body color. Slowly rising to her feet-being extra cautious to keep Homura's hand on her shoulder, she noticed her father, Tomoya and Stephen frozen in a sprint right outside the porch, greyscale like the world around them.

She gasped, "D-Dad…!"

"He'll be fine," Homura averted her gaze and shook her head as she spoke with a hint of uncertainty. She glanced past the pinkette at the exploding light, "Our main priority is to catch our dopplegangers."

Madoka took a deep breath and nodded, then turned towards the light. The chain of girls slowly stepped in sync into the 'blast'. The pinkette reached her left arm out to touch something-anything, that she could grab a hold of. Her cast hit a body, and she gasped as energy shot through her arm and into her body. She bear-hugged the object, and she heard the world's ticking begging to slow down.

Homura stated sternly, "Don't let go."

Madoka nodded again. With a loud click, time reverted to normal and the light continued its explosion, enveloping the entire group of girls.

* * *

As Madoka once again regained her vision, she shot both her hand and her cast over her mouth, closed her eyes and doubled over in a fit of nausea. She heard the sickening sound of someone vomiting behind her, making her feel even worse.

"...Those were my BOOTS, SAYAKA!" Kyoko irritably growled in disgust behind the pinkette.

Sayaka sickly swallowed and apologized, "S-Sorry, K-Kyoko… I'll… I'll find you some new ones…"

Kyoko heatedly exclaimed, "I DON'T WANT SOME RANDOM WALKER'S BOOTS! THAT'S EVEN WORSE!"

"Girls, please!" Mami interjected, trying to keep the peace, "We have a bigger problem on our hands…"

"She's right," Homura added, traces of worry evident in her voice, "This… is not the Mitakihara we've come from."

It was then that Madoka swallowed what nauseousness she could to stand up to look around. Her eyes grew wide at the sight.

Homura was right. Although darkness surrounded them and rain drizzled on their heads, the pinkette gasped as she examined the familiar, pristine neighborhood, made easily visible by the working streetlight. That, in of itself, shocked her, as power in Mitikihara City had been shut off well over a month ago. It should've been decrepit and in shambles by now, but it seemed like neither Walkers nor Military had come near it. Her heart fluttered lightly in her chest as she saw her own home untouched just a few blocks away. This was her neighborhood.

And something felt off. It made her uneasy. Then, she choked slightly. As gut-wrenching as it was to admit it, she knew that everything she knew had either been devoured or destroyed. So, why was everything so…?

"OH, GIVE ME A FREAKING BREAK!" She heard herself scream; or rather, the _OTHER_ her.

Madoka turned and saw her double standing with the other Homura-still toting the heavy, gun-laden duffle-under a streetlamp a good fifteen feet behind them. She wasn't happy. After the seeing the other her glare and mumble something to Homura-who then visibly gasped and looked on the edge of tears-she shifted her irritated, icey expression to the survivors.

Immediately putting her feelings of nausea and sorrow aside, Madoka steeled her own harsh expression and pulled her revolver from her thigh. Stepping in front of the survivor group, she aimed at and called out to the deities, "Give back our weapons. Now."

Unphased, the Goddess returned the gesture and aimed Tomohisa's Berretta back at the survivor. She smirked, "Tch, and if I don't?" she chuckled, "It's not like you have the balls to shoot that thing anyw-"

Without warning, Madoka fired her Python mere inches away from the Goddess' feet. The latter squealed, jumped and dropped her pistol, resulting in a worried gasp from the other brunette.

The survivor pinkette took the opportunity to draw closer, with the rest of the survivor girls following close behind. Madoka glared at her dopple and growled, "Then the next one won't miss."

The Goddess returned the piercing gaze as she fired back, "Don't you even care about what's happened? About what you've done?!"

Motioning for one of her friends to pick up her father's handgun (which Homura had acquiesced), the survivor cocked her revolver and stated menacingly, "I can care when I have our weapons back. I pretty much understand what's going on now anyway."

The Goddess gasped and back-off slightly, "O-Okay, alright! I'm not so proud to see that this isn't going favorably for me," she grinned and offered, "How about this then: we'll give back half of the guns, and then we'll take you all back home in the morning! No mess, no fuss!"

Madoka callously fired another shot, this time into the double's foot. The Goddess shrieked in agony and dropped to her knee, holding her bleeding appendage.

The demon dropped next to her and cried, "MISTRESS!"

"I didn't say _HALF,_ " Madoka glared.

Choking back her pain and breathing heavily, the deity cracked another small smirk, "I'll… I'll let... you see... Mama."

The survivor pinkette gasped and her intensity melted slightly, "...M-Mama?"

 _Jackpot,_ the dopple's smirk grew wider as she grunted, "Yeah… I'll… let you say… goodbye… long as… we get to… keep some guns…"

Madoka hesitated, her steel expression beginning to melt into her emotions. She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"It wouldn't be wise," her Homura shook her head, "we need those weapons. Plus," she averted her gaze, "Seeing her again would only do more harm than good."

Madoka started sniffing. Her eyes wet and her shoulders trembling, she tried to stifle a sob, "B-But… H-Homura… You remember what happened to her…! You remember what she was!"

"I don't like the sound of this…" Mami answered apprehensively, "This seems fishy to me…"

"Whatever the crap they may be trying to pull..." Kyoko added solemnly, "...I think we should let the Pinkies do this thing. I may not have been there when Ms. Kaname turned, but I know…" her eyes dimmed slightly, "what it's like to lose family unexpectedly. Ain't a day that goes by where I don't wish I could do it over, fix what I did, or, at the very least, tell 'em goodbye and that I loved 'em…"

"But the guns…" Sayaka tried to bring up the main issue half-heartedly, but turned her gaze away, hardly believing in her own opposition at this point after remembering how Junko died the second time.

The red-head shook her head, "We'll get along fine without 'em. We're magical girls; we've got other ways o' killing the dead."

"K-Kyoko…" Madoka muttered.

Kyoko smirked, "You do you, kid. If this thing ends up bad, we'll be close by t' back ya up."

The pinkette's lip trembled as she smiled, "T-Thank you…"

The Goddess grunted again as the demon helped her to her feet, "We in agreement then?"

The survivor nodded, wiped her eyes, and swallowed as she turned back to her, "Yes. Take me to Mama."

"Good; glad we understand each other," the dopple grinned, then frowned as her Homura helper helped her hobble along past the survivors on the way to her home, "gotta get my freakin' foot patched up anyway..."

* * *

"Just in there," The Deity-still being assisted by Homura-whispered and pointed to the door at the end of the hallway.

"I know where my parents' room is," The Survivor coldly retorted.

"Jeez, shoot a girl for trying to help…" The Goddess pouted.

"No, I shot you because you had our guns," Madoka hissed quietly, "And how do I know you're not going to trick me? That's more in line with your character."

"Because you gave us the guns that you shot me for," Madoka fired back, "I may be immortal, but that still freakin' hurt! I don't particularly care for it happening again."

Madoka rolled her eyes and 'hmph'ed, before taking steps towards the end of the hall. She stopped. She glanced at two doors: one on her right, and one to her left. She knew. The one on her left was hers. And the door to her right…

She took a deep breath and swallowed a lump in her throat. Shaking her head, she veered to the left, approached her door and grasped the handle. She couldn't help but give a small smile as she slowly turned the knob, envisioning the room as it had once been. The homely pink decor and her crowd of friendly stuffed animals forever waiting patiently on her bed for the day that she should return.

It seemed… so long ago…

Pushing open the door, her nostalgic smile quickly faded into a heartbroken frown, as she discovered that her stuffed animals no longer waited for her. Rather, they had been replaced by various whips, ropes, handcuffs and other torture tools, making the pink decor drastically less homely and much more foreign and disturbing.

Covering her mouth with her hand, a sob broke in her chest as she closed her eyes and staggered a step backwards, trembling at the horrific display that the room had become.

 _That's right... it's HER room,_ she thought bitterly, turning her back on the place she had once considered her solitude, _Why should have I expected anything else?_

Taking a deep breath to control her sobs, she wiped her tears, slumped her shoulders, and trudged to the exit, where the other Madoka waited with an irritated expression. The latter glowered, "...What the crap are you doing in my room?"

The survivor glared at her and sniffed. She muttered coldly as she callously brushed by the Goddess' shoulder, "...I'm saying goodbye."

Stepping behind her, the pinkette stopped in the dark shadows of the hallway as she stared at her little brother's room. She hesitated for just a moment. The pangs of remorse from her sorrowful memories threatened to flood back into her mind and heart. In the end, she made up her mind to see him anyway.

Slowly and quietly creaking open the toddler's door, she entered the generally nondescript, ordinary room where the only things of note were a navy dresser, a cerulean toy chest and a navy cradle housing a small, sleeping body.

Madoka stepped towards the latter, peering in as she approached. Looking down on the sleeping toddler, she cracked a small smile, but her eyes showed her soul crying out her sorrow in direct contradiction to her expression. She reached into the bed to gently rub Tatsuya's brown, silky hair.

Tears started to fall down her cheek as she began to sing the boy's favorite nursery rhyme, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star… How I wonder what you are…"

As he shifted in his sleep, her mind flash her back to the last time she had sung that for him. They were in Mitakihara hospital with their survivor group at the time. She remembered that Tatsuya had just turned, and had bit Madoka's index finger clean off. As the Zombified Toddler stumbled towards her father, she joined the latter in helping him stabilize his shaky grip around his firearm with her bloody left hand, and aimed at her brother's head. They had sung the rhyme together for him one last time before firing a round through his forehead, ending his life.

The memory forced Madoka to turn away from the cradle, sobbing heavily again. She glanced back at the sleeping boy and she forced a smile as she pulled away her hand, "I-I love you, buddy…" her lip trembled as she said her goodbyes, "I'm… really g-glad that I got to be your sister, Tatsuya… even if it w-was only for a little while..."

She stepped out of the room and carefully closed the door behind her. With her emotions rampant and her senses dull, she stepped towards her parents' bedroom's door at the end of the hall.

Before she knew it, she had already entered the master bedroom and closed the door behind her. She turned and her heart skipped a beat when she saw her mother sleeping peacefully at the edge of the queen-sized bed in the middle of the room.

"...M-Mama!" Choking back a sob, Madoka dashed the bed with reckless abandon and threw herself atop Junko and embraced her.

"Mmfth… Ma…" Junko mumbled as she was stirred from sleep, "...Madoka-chan?" She propped herself up on her arms and rubbed her eyes, "...Whaddya doin', Madoka-chan? Don't you know it's half-past WAY-too-late for this? And aren't you supposed to be at Mami-chan's house for some sleep-over or something?"

"M-Mama…!" Madoka cried, still holding her doppleganger's mother, "I just… I... um… I… I… I-I..."

Sitting up fully, Junko sighed and pushed the pinkette away, "Alright kiddo, what's the matter? I don't think I've ever seen you this bent outta shape."

"Oh, I just…" Madoka choked and sniffed, averting her gaze trying to get a hold of herself, "I just really m-missed you…"

Junko paused and narrowed her eyes, "Alright, now I know this is a dream."

Madoka gasped slightly before dropping her head and sobbing, her body trembling, "...She was right. This is all j-just a cruel d-dream, isn't it?"

Junko lightly chuckled, "Yeah, no kidding. The real you's such a brat, that she'd never come to me this visibly broken," she frowned and glared at her 'daughter', "And don't think we don't know about the little facade you put up around us. We weren't born yesterday. We know how you deceitfully run around behind our backs to do things we don't approve of. We also found out about the stunt you pulled at Homura-chan's house with the queen-sized mattress on Valentine's Day. Rest assured, there _WILL BE_ consequences for that."

Madoka's muscles clenched and shivered as her sobs started to become uncontrollable, _T-This r-really is a nightmare! I get to s-see Mama for the f-first time since she died, and I-I'm getting s-scolded f-for the other m-me's awful behavior!_

"But you're not exactly her... are you?" Junko concluded in a much gentler tone.

The pinkette slowly shook her head and sniffed.

The mother opened her arms and beckoned, "...Come here, kiddo."

Without missing a beat, Madoka threw herself into Junko's embrace once more, "M-Mama...! I m-missed you so much, Mama!"

"Jeez, you smell awful," Junko stated with a chuckle, "You need a shower."

Still sniffling, Madoka laughed a little as well, "T-Trust me, I-I know…"

"Y'know," the mother commented, "I knew you weren't the real Madoka-chan from the get-go. The cast over your left hand was a dead giveaway. But you know what?" She chuckled quietly, "I think I almost prefer this you, Madoka."

Despite her weeping, the pinkette let a giggle slip through her tears, _Her own m-mother likes me b-better…_

But then, the reality of the situation hit her again and she sobbed, "I d-didn't t-think I'd ever s-see you again, M-Mama!"

Gently rubbing the Madoka's back, Junko assured, "Dream or no, I know when my daughter needs me. But, Madoka-chan, you have to understand, that this really is a dream..." she paused, letting her 'daughter' weep into the chest of her black sleep-shirt. She paused, sighed, and asked, "Sweetie… What… what can I tell you to make it better?"

Madoka cried, "T-That you w-won't leave me a-again..."

"You know I can't promise that; everyone has to wake up sometime," Junko stated solemnly, "But you're strong, Madoka. In here and out there."

"B-But I f-feel so little…" the pinkette choked, thinking about the ever-prevalent, never-ceasing dangers in her own world.

"That doesn't mean anything, Madoka-chan," the mother denied that claim, "And, wherever she is, Dream Junko's out there, and I know that without a doubt that she's proud of you. I know, because I'm proud of the real you…" she chuckled a little, "Even though you've made me REALLY wanna pull my hair out in the past few years."

At the mention of her real mother, Madoka cried louder, "MAMA, PLEASE! D-Don't b-be one of t-them! P-Please don't b-become a W-Walker!"

"I…" Junko furrowed her brow and hesitated, not quite sure how to respond to that. Then, she smiled, fishing for the answer she assumed Madoka most wanted to hear, "I won't sweetie. I promise.

"Now," the mother pushed Madoka away once again, "I think it's time we both got some sleep, Madoka-chan," she yawned and rubbed her eyes, "Mama's got a very important business meeting in Central Mitakihara tomorrow. Everything's going to be okay, alright?"

Madoka wiped the tears from her eyes and sniffled as she nodded.

"I love you, Madoka-chan," the mother smirked and winked, "Just in case you don't find Dream Junko anytime soon."

The pinkette's lip trembled violently again and she lunged back into another hug with her dopple's mother. She choked and sobbed, "Mama… I'll m-miss you…"

Junko smiled softly and answered genuinely, "...Y'know, I'll miss you too, Madoka."

Pulling away, Madoka took a deep breath and nodded. She slowly stepped towards the door, lingering in her mother's presence as long as she could. With great hesitation, she gulped, cracked open the door, and slipped out as quietly as she could.

"Alrighty then," Junko laid back down, snuggled herself under her comforter and closed her eyes, "That seems to be that."

Tomohisa mumbled beside her, "Talking to Dream Madoka-chan again?"

"Eyyep," Junko replied immediately, "I think it's the Yoga before bed. Too much stimulation."

The husband turned to the opposite direction in an attempt to get comfortable. He asked, "Which one was it this time?"

"Not sure…" the wife yawned, "She mentioned something about me being a 'Walker', so maybe one where I'm super old and can't move well on my own?"

"I guess," Tomohisa yawned as well, "It could also be the zombie apocalypse one. That one's usually really nice."

"Very true," Junko agreed, "Not a bad trade-off, I gotta admit."

* * *

Madoka closed the door behind her, leaned against it and sniffed. She looked up to see her survivor group waiting somberly for her in the hall.

Kyoko asked, "You good?"

The pinkette took a deep breath and nodded slowly.

"Cool," the red-head gave a small, yet solemn smirk.

"I suppose all that's left now…" Homura adjusted her glasses and glanced back at the Goddess in the back of the group typing something on her phone, "Is to get our guns and go back to our own timeline."

As the survivor group all shifted their attention to the other Madoka. Not even looking up from her phone, she limped alone to the center of the hallway and deadpanned, "Hah, yeah, no. Not tonight. We can take you all back tomorrow, but Homura-chan and I are absolutely exhausted. It's been a very long, VERY frustrating night."

Mami furrowed her brow and crossed her arms, "Where do you propose we sleep then? I don't think your parents would very much appreciate a bunch of doppelgangers randomly appearing in their home."

The goddess brought her phone to her ear and chuckled, "Heh, funny _you_ should ask! Oh, and btdubs, my parents think I'm a saint. They'd pretty much let me do whatever I wanted simply because I wanted it. They're total pushovers."

The survivor Madoka gulped the last of her emotions and replied, "Actually, um, about that…"

"Shh!" The Goddess shushed. She exclaimed a moment later, "Eyy! Mami-san! You know that favor that you owe me? Yeah, the one that you said I could call at anytime if I needed something. That one. Well, I need something… Whaddya mean, 'It's the middle of the night'?! Do I sound like I give a crap about where the moon's position in the sky is? You owe me a favor and you're gonna follow through, capisce?!"

She viciously hung up her phone and grinned slyly to the group of survivors, "Anybody down for a QUALITY sleepover?"


	6. Night of Respite

"Hey Mami-san, we're here," Madoka buzzed over the intercom of the blonde's apartment complex.

"Oh, you brought Homura-chan with you as well?" Mami's voice asked with a hint of excitement.

The pinkette scowled at the machine, "When do I _NOT_ have Homura-chan with me?"

"Fair point," the blonde chuckled through the machine, "I'm coming down to let you in now."

And so it happened that the crew of girls waited in awkward silence outside Mami's apartment complex. The automatic double-doors of the building eventually slid open to reveal the titular tennant herself sporting a plain yellow track jacket and jeans and a young elementary-aged girl with snow-white hair cascading down her small back, wearing a bright pink t-shirt and multi-colored polka fleece pants, hiding behind the blonde.

With a big grin, Mami motioned for them to enter, "Welcome to the Tomoe Househ-"

She paused and her smile wavered as she just noticed that there were clones of herself, Madoka, and Homura.

The Survivor Mami waved hesitantly, "H-Hi, um, me..." the blonde leaned to her pinkette counterpart and whispered, "...Was it this weird for you as well, Madoka?"

Madoka nodded and stifled a giggle, "Oh yeah."

Meanwhile, the white haired girl-clearly not caring about the meaning behind survivors' presence-looked like she was about to explode in excitement. With a brightly beaming smile, she exclaimed, literally bouncing up and down behind the blonde, "Mami-chan! Mami-chan! Look at everyone that came to our sleepover!"

On the other hand, the resident Mami's smile faded and her expression deadpanned, pensive of the existence of the Magical Girl Doppelgangers, "...Kaname-san, haven't I told you that your cloning experiments are going to be the death of us?"

The pinkette rolled her eyes and laughed, "Hah, I can't die."

"But the rest of us can!" Mami stated exasperatedly, "Just one blow to our soul gems and-"

Madoka interrupted her and walked inside the building, "It's a good thing these aren't clones then."

"But-" the blonde tried to counter, now confused beyond all hope.

One by one, each girl stepped past the two, the survivor Mami being the only one stop and try to say something, "Don't worry, um, me… We'll… we'll explain everything when we get to my-I mean- _our_ apartment."

Resident Mami sighed and rubbed her forehead, "...Sure. Fine."

The rest of the girls after Mami walked inside, survivor Madoka being the last. Noticing the excited white-haired girl behind the blonde as she passed, Madoka paused, smiled gently, and knelt down and rubbed the girl's head, causing the her to giggle. Glancing up at Mami, she asked, "Who's this little one? She reminds me of my brother."

Mami's smile returned to her as she explained, "This is Momoe Nagisa. Her parents…" she hesitated, "...died a few years back. I've been taken care of her ever since," her golden eyes dulled as her smile faded slightly, "I know it's not… it's not easy, living without parents…"

Madoka averted her gaze, frowned and choked, "Tell me about it…"

The blonde then grinned at elementary schooler, "But you've been strong, haven't you, Nagisa-chan?"

The girl puffed her cheeks and flexed her arms, "Super strong!"

"Good for you!" the pinkette chuckled and stood up. Her smile flickered again as her eyes glossed over. She averted her gaze in an attempt to hide it, "I'm sure… you were much stronger than I was…"

Mami furrowed her brow and tilted her head, "...Everything okay?"

Madoka cleared her throat, "Y-Yeah, I'm fine," She shook her head, sniffed and smiled somberly as the blonde, "This really is a nice thing you're doing for her. I respect that."

"That's oddly kind of you to say, for a clone of Kaname-san," Mami crossed her arms and chuckled. Her expression changed from sarcastic to solemn, "Thank you, I appreciate it."

The pinkette nodded, "Mm-hm."

Just as she turned towards the stairs to ascend the building, Nagisa quickly wrapped her arms around Madoka's waist, throwing the latter off-balance. Catching her footing, the pinkette raised an amused eyebrow and stared at the girl attached to her lower half, "...Oh?"

Nagisa exclaimed, "Mami-chan! New Kaname-san is my now my new super best-friend!"

Mami giggled, "Is she now?"

With a small chuckle, Madoka took deep breath and knelt back down to meet the girl at eye level. Keeping her smile as best she could, she explained, "I appreciate that, Nagisa, but you don't want to do that," she smile could hold out no longer as she frowned somberly, "I'm… I'm not a good person. I'm very dangerous. It would be better for you to stay with Mami…" she hesitated and her eyes dimmed as she stood up and gently nudged the girl back to her caretaker, "...And away from me."

"Oh, come on now," Mami slightly scoffed, "I've known you for less than five minutes and I can already tell that you are a much kinder person then the real Kaname-san."

"Can you? Can you really?" Madoka asked seriously, scowling at the resident.

"You were with her," the blonde shrugged, "I'm sure you witnessed how Kaname-san behaves."

The pinkette stared at the stairwell and her scowl deepened, "Well, she's not my favorite person. That much is true," she glanced back at the two girls, before sighing and setting her hollow gaze on the caretaker, "Just… Remember what I said, okay? It's safer for everyone if you are involved as little as possible."

"...You're kind of taking over my apartment for the night. We're pretty intrinsically involved now," Mami deadpanned sarcastically. She took a deep breath, frowned, and nodded in understanding, "Very well. Though I think you might be overreacting a little, you are still technically a stranger, I suppose."

As the three began walking towards the stairs, Madoka sheepishly asked, "You, um… wouldn't happen to have a shower I could use when we get there… would you?"

The blonde giggled at the request, "Of course. I could tell that you all needed one, I just didn't know how to offer… And I was a bit shocked to see doubles of you, Homura-chan, and myself."

The pinkette chuckled as well, "Trust me, we know."

* * *

For the first time in weeks, Madoka relaxed as the warm shower water hit her face. She smiled gently, "This is nice…" she giggled, "To think I'd miss something so simple as a shower…" Allowing herself to momentarily forget the problems that awaited her, she hummed a happy tune as she slowly cleaned her body, enjoying every last second of this lost commodity.

Meanwhile, her humming could be heard by the rest of the girls chilling out in Mami's three-room, two-story apartment. The two Homura's sat against the wall. They held a conversation as the survivor shined her combat knife and the demon smiled lewdly at the bathroom door on the second floor.

"...So, you mean to tell me," the survivor commented as she adjusted her glasses, "That I continue to repeat my trials and tribulations another seventeen times, at the least?"

The demon nodded without even looking at her, "Unfortunately. That's how it was for me, and I can't imagine it would differ for my past self," then, she tilted her head impossibly and shifted her gaze to the survivor, "Although, you seem rather bent on making sure I do not exist. Even though you are indeed me, I find that dedication rather impressive."

"It's because…" Homura hesitated, staring solely at the knife in her hands, "This time is… this time is different. Our world may have gone to hell, but the difference makes me believe that there's a chance for a life…"

"Really now?" The demon raised her brow in scrutiny, "I've seen your world, fought through your undead "Walkers". So, pray tell me, just what kind of 'life' are you trying to build there?"

The survivor remained silent as she resumed fiddling with her blade. However, Madoka's humming lifted her out of her melancholic trance. She lifted her gaze to the bathroom and smiled gently. She dodged the question and changed the subject, "It's been so long since we've been able to relax and and enjoy something as simple as a shower. We needed that."

The demon grinned as well. However, hers was much more twisted than the survivor's, "Even I can understand that. I just don't know long I could go without imagining my Mistress na-"

She gagged as a sharp pain pierced her torso. The demon looked down to see Homura's dagger protruding from her stomach, crimson blood staining her white shirt. Gasping for air, she slowly lifted her gaze to her right, only to see the survivor glaring daggers sharper than the one currently embedded in her abdomen from under her scarlet spectacles.

Without even a hint of emotion in her cold, blank expression, the survivor stated slowly and clearly as she twisted her knife, causing even more immense pain to shoot through her dopple, "You _will_ refrain from thinking about Madoka that way."

Struggling to breathe, the demon could only manage a slow nod, what with the dagger impaling her inner organs. Homura returned the nod and, with a swift swipe outward, cut flesh and splattered blood to retract her knife. The former Homura gasped, clutched her midsection and toppled over onto her left side.

Once again returning to the cleaning job on the her blade due to the fresh demon blood now staining the steel, the latter Homura mumbled absently, "Glad we could understand each other…"

It wasn't long after that when the survivor Mami walked over to the two. She was going to say something, but then repulsively recoiled in disgust at the sight of the twitching, bleeding body crumpled on the ground, the sanguine life essence now pooling on the maplewood floor.

Staring at the demon who had actually starting spitting up blood and other bodily fluids, Homura shrugged nonchalantly, "She deserved it."

Mami's shoulders slumped and she sighed exasperatedly, "...Of course she did. At any rate," she regained her composure and explained as she crossed her arms over her stomach, "I was able to talk with the resident Mami. She understands our situation, to an extent at least. She knows that we're not from here, so she's allowing us all to sleep together in her room, then we'll be on our way in the morning," the blonde chuckled, "She even invited this world's Sayaka and Kyoko. I told her that wouldn't be necessary, but she insisted on 'giving us one more night to relax and have fun before returning to hell'," she rubbed her chin, "I guess it makes sense; I'd most likely do the same if I were in her shoes…"

Homura uninterestedly muttered, "Okay."

The blonde scowled, "'Okay'? Just, 'Okay'?

The brunette glanced up at her aloofly, "I'm not Madoka; I couldn't care less about the details about what happens here. All I need to know is that we're going back tomorrow. In fact, falling into a sense of security, no matter how small, has been a mistake on our part. We cannot afford to slip like that."

"I know, I know," Mami rolled her eyes. She asked absently, "Could one night really hurt, though…?" Homura's glare quickly gave her the answer. She slumped her shoulders and sighed dejectedly, "...I understand. Shoot a girl for hoping aloud…" shaking her head, a smile returned to her face, "At any rate, the other Me has offered to make us tea," she smirked slightly, minutely stroking her own ego, "I know for a fact that's going to be quite delicious."

Homura stared for a moment, before allowing a small grin crack on her face, "...I don't see why not; I did always enjoy your tea."

The blonde furrowed her brow, "But… I never-" then gasped in realization and chuckled, "Oh, Time Travel! Of cour-"

"MADOKA!" Madoka screamed from just outside the bathroom over the loft bannister, capturing the two magical girls' attention.

The entire room apartment froze and stared up at the pinkette holding up towel with her cast (resident Mami quickly covering Nagisa's eyes), brandishing her revolver with her free hand. She glared around at the room below, before setting her irate irises on resident Mami and seethed, "Where's Madoka?"

The blonde in question cocked her head and blinked at the girl, "I… Um… Huh?"

Madoka rolled her eyes and growled, " _KANAME-SAN!_ Where is Kaname?!"

Mami gasped in realization and nodded towards the door to Madoka's right, "Oh! Right! She went into my room a good while ago-"

"OH WHAT NOW?!" The accused Madoka screamed as she emerged from the very same door with a bundle of clothes in her arms.

The survivor quickly turned her weapon to her mirror. Seeing the familiar pink flannel blouse and white skirt in the Goddess's arms, Madoka scowled viciously and shouted, "WHY DO YOU HAVE MY CLOTHES?"

"WHO TAKES A FREAKING GUN INTO THE BATHROOM?!" The Goddess shot back.

Cocking her weapon, the survivor glowered, "I do. Now answer me."

"You can only do that so many times," the Goddess challenged, "before I stop caring."

"STOP!" Mami shouted from below, "Not in the Apartment, please!"

The survivor glanced at her really quickly, then, like lightning, shot her glare back to her double. The Goddess asked irritably, "Where did you even hide it? I didn't see it when I grabbed your clothes."

With a nod of her head towards the bathroom door, Madoka stated equally bemused, "Behind the toilet."

"That's…" the Goddess blinked and stared past the pinkette at the door herself, "That's some impressive ingenuity, actually," she giggled, "and incredible at how much you distrust me."

The survivor spat pointedly, "You _TOOK_ my _CLOTHES_."

The other frowned again and fired back, "I _WASHED_ your clothes."

"You… washed them?" taken aback, Madoka's expression softened as she lowered her gun slightly, "That's… unlike you."

"Yeah well," Madoka muttered and shoved the clothing bundle into the survivor's chest, the latter catching it with her gun-wielding hand. The former huffed, "They were disgusting. Knowing it was stained with someone _ELSE'S_ blood made _ME_ nauseous. Even then, I still couldn't get it all out…" as the Goddess turned to take her leave to the apartment's lower level, she mumbled almost inaudibly to herself, "This is why I don't do nice things… get a freaking gun shoved in my face…"

Lowering her gun completely, the survivor stopped and stared at her clothes. She turned to the descending doppel and hesitantly stated, "Th-thank you… and I'm… I'm sorry, for that."

"Tch," The doppel clicked her tongue and glared icily at her before continuing to stomp angrily down the stairs.

Madoka sighed and shook her head exasperatedly, "Typical of her… Although, that was kinda my fault..."

"Hey," resident Mami called from below, "Is everything okay up there, Other Kaname-san?"

The survivor peered over the balcony and responded, "Yeah, we worked it out; everything's fine."

The blonde smiled, "Oh, okay! I'm glad to hear that! At any rate, I have tea ready once you get dressed. I also invited our Miki-san and Sakura-san, and they should be here very shortly."

"Okay, gotcha," Madoka nodded, then retreated into the resident's room to change.

Meanwhile down below, survivor Mami glanced at survivor Homura and chuckled, "Well, that certainly was an interesting happenstance."

"Indeed," the brunette nodded as she hopped to her feet, "and that is why trust is absolutely invaluable amongst those like ourselves."

It was then that she noticed the demon Homura sitting back up and staring up at the balcony in a dazed euphoria, blood dripping from both her nose and mouth. Homura sighed and adjusted her glasses. With a skilled, showy, tricksy flip of her blade and a whip of her braided hair, she quickly impaled her doppel in the forehead, causing said demon to gasp in pain. Homura let go of her knife and the other Homura toppled to the floor in the same sanguine pool as before.

The survivor turned to Mami and smiled, "Now, let's have some tea."

The blonde simply gawked at the body, "...Shouldn't we clean this up?"

"I see no point in it," Homura shrugged as she walked past to join the others around a table in the center of the apartment.

"Oh, good grief…" Mami rubbed her temples, shook her head and sighed before following the brunette.

It wasn't long before all (survivor Madoka and devil Homura excluded) were comfortably sitting around Mami's living room coffee table. As Nagisa brought the tea to everyone, the snow-haired girl happily chirped, "Drink! Drink! I made it special, just for you all!"

Everyone except Madoka softly smiled at her adorable childlike innocence and naivete. However, as each girl thanked Nagisa when they received their cup. However, resident Mami noticed… something, in their eyes; something that contrasted their gentle grins, and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She furrowed her brow and nibbled her thumb as she stared quizzically at the survivors and thought to herself, _...Longing?_

She then recalled the conversation she shared with her mirrored survivor earlier as the girls were deciding on the order of the shower.

* * *

" _It's amazing, to think that we could miss something trivial like a shower…" Survivor Mami chuckled as she witnessed Kyoko dash up the stairwell like lightning._

 _Sitting across the coffee table from her doppel, Resident Mami mused as she gave Madoka a quick glance, "I'm surprised that Kaname-san's clone elected to take her shower last, despite her straw allowing her to be first. She really looks like she's been through the wringer…"_

" _We all have, to be completely honest," the survivor's eyes dimmed slightly, "We've all been through so much. However... I'd be lying if I said Madoka didn't have it the worst. Also," she glanced at the resident, "we're not clones."_

" _I suppose I gathered as much," the resident stated, "I just didn't know what to make of this whole situation."_

" _Naturally, that goes without saying," Mami sighed, "If I were you-which I am, I would ask your Madoka for clearer details, since I don't understand it all myself. However, to put it simply, the five of us are from a world…" she hesitated and stared at her lap, "...where the Undead have risen and destroyed the very life we once knew. We…" she took a deep breath and choked, "...We're not sure how many of us are even left now…"_

" _O-Oh my! That's horrid!" Mami gasped, then turned her attention to Madoka, sitting quietly with her eyes down to her lap, "A-And Kaname-san…?"_

 _The survivor did the same, and her voice drooped to a melancholic tone, "I'm sure you remember, we went to the same school. Madoka was such a kind girl, before it all happened, I mean… Not once did she ever speak out, and not once did she ever try to cause trouble…"_

" _...That's a new one. That's absolutely nothing like our Kaname-san," Resident Mami chuckled, before her expression neutralized again. A knot formed in her stomach. She wasn't sure she was going to like where this was going, "Go on…"_

 _The survivor Mami hesitated before continuing her explanation, "...About a month after the initial outbreak-when everything went to hell and the undead were no longer a secret, a flood of Walkers overran the school and separated Madoka from all of us. They... had no idea it was even coming…_

" _Then, she was..." Mami gulped and took a deep breath, clearly struggling to stomach what had happened to the pinkette, "...cruelly violated by an evil man. And even after all of that, when I rescu-" she stopped herself. Thinking back, she looked to be on the verge of crying, "when I_ found _her, and brought her back to her father, her mother and brother were already gone. Since then, it's just been been one act of torture after another, as I'm sure you can tell by the blood-stained bullet holes in her shirt. To say the least, she's not the same girl we once knew. Granted, I don't think any of us are the same anymore..."_

 _Resident Mami just didn't know how to react to this. She stared in disbelief, "...Y-You're kidding! You must be…!"_

 _The survivor Mami slowly shook her head, "I wish I was…" then, tears finally welled in her eyes and she dropped her forehead into her palm. She sobbed openly, "Oh, how I wish with my entire being that this was all just one sick joke! That this could all just be a horrible nightmare...!"_

" _I… Uhm…" the resident struggled for words to say, "I… I'm so, so sorry. I've seen my fair share of heartache, but this…"_

 _Getting a hold of herself, the survivor stared directly at Mami, choked back her sobs and stated seriously with tears still dripping down her cheeks, "...The world is cruel. It has shredded every last ounce of our innocence and left behind hollow husks of who we once were. It's changed us into people we were never meant to be; we are broken, and no one can or will repair us. But in spite of that, above all…" her wet eyes narrowed into a glare, "Above all, we_ WILL _survive."_

* * *

The knot formed once again in Mami's stomach. She understood why the survivors eyes contradicted the gracious smiles they gave to Nagisa. The empty yearning over a loss of innocence… Seeing the vacant irises of each survivor, knowing this moment of happiness and relief was essentially meaningless to them, caused the blonde to choke back a sob. She wished she had never pursued that conversation…

"And here's yours, Mami-chan!" Nagisa happily handed her a teacup, breaking her out of her somber trance.

"O-Oh, thank you, Nagisa-chan," Mami smiled as she accepted the drink. Then, she noticed the survivor Madoka approach the table and smiled, "Oh, Other Kaname-san! I'm glad you decided to join us."

"NEW KANAME-CHAN!" Nagisa screeched with glee as leaped and attached herself to the pinkette's hip.

After regaining her balance from the child's 'attack', Madoka simply glanced around with a frown, "...Where's the other Homura? I don't see her, and I feel VERY uneasy not knowing where she is…"

Without a word, the survivor Homura effortlessly pointed to the opposite wall where the demon continued to lay slumped over in a pool of blood with a knife still protruding from her forehead. The entire table (aside from Nagisa, who was too busy tightly hugging Madoka's waist to notice) stared at the would-be corpse. The survivors naturally returned to their tea as if nothing were out of the ordinary, while the residents continued to gawk.

With a relieved smile, Madoka chuckled slightly, "Okay, that's good. One less thing I have to worry about."

The Goddess Madoka, on the other hand, was not so jovial. She glared at the still-breathing Homura and hissed, "She BETTER have deserved that!"

Adjusting her glasses, the brunette nonchalantly sipped her tea, "Oh, don't worry. She did."

The Goddess stared at her for moment, before shrugging it off, "...Eh. Whatever."

Then, there was a knock on the apartment door. Everyone glanced at resident Mami, whose horrified face was still glued to Homura's body. The survivor Mami turned to Madoka and asked with a slight giggle, "Madoka, since you're still standing, would you mind grabbing the door? I think our host may be stuck."

Madoka deadpanned and blinked, motioning to Nagisa with her arms matter-of-factly, "...I have a child attached to me."

The white-haired hip attachment smiled excitedly up at the pinkette, "Don't worry, we can do it New Kaname-chan!~"

Madoka couldn't help chuckle in disbelief, "...How could I even say 'no' to this?" She returned a gentle grin to the girl, "Let's go, Nagisa."

With solid coordination and minimal effort, the two reached the ornate door and Madoka twisted the handle. She slowly pulled back and revealed a familiar crimson and cerulean duo, leaning against each doorpost.

Sayaka grinned and greeted, giggling at the child-person attached to the pinkette, "Hey Madoka-chan, how're ya doin'? I see someone's taking a liking to you."

The pinkette smiled awkwardly, "Yeah, um… Well…"

Kyoko, on the other hand, merely just eyed her cast with a raised eyebrow for a good minute, before poking fun at her with a smirk, "...Jeez, you and Homura do some kinky crap."

"That's not…" Madoka frowned coldly with an expression of disgust, "That's not what this is for at al-"

"It's alright, kid. We all got our got our weird fetishes," Kyoko interrupted her as both the new guests walked past, the latter moving her hands behind her head, "Anywho, y'all got any food for this shindi-"

Madoka turned to see that the two had noticed the table of survivors. The survivor Sayaka and Kyoko both raised a high hand and in greeting.

The blunette stated, "Yo."

And the redhead tilted her head back with a grin, "'Sup."

Kyoko asked slowly and apprehensively, "Why are there clones of us...?"

"...And why is there a dead body in the corner?" Sayaka added worriedly.

Madoka (and by extension, Nagisa), walked in between them and chuckled, "So, looks like some explanation may be necessary."


End file.
